Authorities have reportedly discovered coc@ine worth an estimated $8.4 million concealed inside a shipment linked to a popular underwear brand owned by reality TV star and business mogul Kim Kardashian.
Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison on Monday for stashing a slew of drugs inside his truck carrying 28 pallets of Skims clothing from the Netherlands, according to the National Crime Agency.
Konkel, from northern Poland, was stopped by Border Force officers at the Port of Harwich in Essex, England, as he arrived on a ferry with his truck full of the celebrity shapewear last September, the agency said.
After X-raying his vehicle, investigators discovered the truck driver had stopped on the journey to pick up 90 packages of cocaine, totaling 198 pounds. He then snuck the wrapped bundles into a specially adapted compartment in the truck’s back doors.
The street value of the cocaine was estimated to be roughly $8.4 million, investigators determined.
The Skims shipment was legitimate, and neither the exporter nor the importer of the clothing was connected with the smuggling operation, officials added.
Konkel initially denied knowing anything about the stash of cocaine, but eventually confessed to agreeing to smuggling the drugs for 4,500 Euros, or roughly $5,276.
These drugs destroy lives and inflict misery on our communities,” Border Force Assistant Director Jason Thorn said in a statement.
“This significant interception is testament to the brilliant work of Border Force, depriving criminal networks of millions in profit,” he added.
“We continue to work round the clock to relentlessly pursue criminality, protect our borders, and keep these dangerous drugs off our streets.”