Lorry Driver Snared with £500k Cocaine Haul at Dover
Gitanas Eitmanavicius, 48, from Kaunas, Lithuania, thought he had a quiet delivery job. But when Border Force officers stopped his lorry at Dover, they found £500,000 worth of cocaine hidden in his cab. The Lithuanian initially claimed he was transporting tobacco and food for a contact he met at a Dutch service station. He later admitted he knew the packages were cocaine.
Hidden Drugs Discovered in Lorry Cab
The haul was expertly concealed. Officers found three taped-up packages tucked inside the air conditioning unit on the cab’s roof and another two hidden in the backs of the driver and passenger seats. Chemical tests confirmed the contents were class A cocaine.
Eitmanavicius was en route to Hastings with a legitimate delivery of sofas when he was stopped in September. The National Crime Agency (NCA) swiftly launched an investigation after the discovery.
Six and a Half Years Behind Bars
Yesterday, Canterbury Crown Court sentenced Eitmanavicius to six and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempting to import class A drugs into the UK. NCA Dover Branch Commander Martin Grace slammed the crime, saying:
“The class A drugs trade is almost always linked to serious and organised crime, with people and communities feeling the true cost. This seizure stopped a considerable amount of cocaine from reaching users in the UK and causing harm. The man who tried to bring it in is now behind bars.”
He added the NCA, working closely with Border Force, is determined to disrupt the organised crime networks profiting from drug smuggling.
