A DRIVER has been jailed for eight years after he was caught trying to import £3.7m of heroin and cocaine into Britain.

Thomas Burgess, 49, of Tanhill Close, Offerton, Stockport, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court , after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle class A drugs at an earlier hearing.

He had been stopped at Dover Eastern Docks in October last year as he was travelling alone in his Land Rover and told Border Agency officials he had been on a day's shopping trip to Belgium.

But officers searched his vehicle and discovered 34kg of heroin and 7kg of cocaine hidden under a quilt in the rear footwells.

There were 43 taped packages which tests proved contained drugs. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) took over the investigation and Burgess pleaded guilty in February this year.

Burgess will serve at least four years in jail - less 234 days already served.

Malcolm Bragg, an assistant director at HMRC, said: "Burgess attempted to pass himself off as a day tripper, but officers soon uncovered his crude attempts at hiding the heroin and cocaine with a quilt.

"These dangerous drugs devastate lives and communities. HMRC investigators and their UK Border Agency colleagues are determined to stop them reaching the streets."

Anyone with information relating to smuggled goods can contact HMR's hotline on 0800 595 000. Tweet