Lorry driver admits attempt to smuggle 69 kilos of cocaine through Dublin Port

Joseph Gray (52) from Derry was stopped by police at the Welsh port on 9 October last year who found 69 kilos of cocaine hidden among pallets of yoghurt and orange juice.

Gray, of Draperstown, Northern Ireland, had collected the Class A drugs the day before from co-conspirators Moynul Hoque (31) Clapton, London, and Usman Iqbal (35) of Grays, Essex.

The Irish driver had met the other two near Bristol where they handed over the drugs to him.

Hoque and Iqbal were arrested together on 12 December at the UK custom controls at the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles, France, as they were travelling in a Belgian registered BMW.

The three men who all admitted exporting Class A drugs yesterday at Caernarfon Crown Court, will be sentenced on 4 March 2022.

National Crime Agency senior investigating officer Callum Gracey said: "These drugs would have put vast sums of money back into the hands of criminals who would have reinvested it into more offending.

“Class A drugs are at the centre of violence and misery which blight some of our communities.

“The NCA works closely with partners at home and abroad to fight the Class A drugs threat and to protect the public from the harm drugs cause.”