Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Bedfordshire
A lorry driver has been convicted for his role in importing a significant quantity of cocaine into the UK. Ruidi Claes, 62, was found guilty after police discovered drugs valued at £19.2 million when they stopped his lorry at Toddington Services on the M1 in Bedfordshire in June last year.
Claes was charged with importing 190 kg (30 stone) of cocaine and supplying 38 kg (6 stone) of the drug after arriving from Belgium. Ahmed Omar, 28, has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply after loading two boxes from Claes’s lorry onto his vehicle. Both men are awaiting sentencing.
The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) reported that Claes and Omar were trusted members of an international organized crime group, with the drugs intended for distribution across the UK. Claes had driven from Steenokkerzeel, Belgium, when he was stopped on the M1.
Surveillance showed Omar’s car, registered to Newcomen Road in Leytonstone, east London, pulling up next to Claes’s lorry, where he received two boxes from the trailer. Authorities discovered 155 kg (25 stone) of cocaine hidden among legitimate pharmaceutical packaging and an additional 36 kg (6 stone) in Omar’s vehicle.
Detective Inspector Dean Trollope stated, “Claes and Omar were responsible for the onward distribution of a colossal amount of cocaine within the UK. The work of our investigators has ensured that the drugs will not end up in the communities of the eastern region and beyond.”
Claes will be sentenced at Luton Crown Court on June 14, while Omar’s sentencing is scheduled for a later date.