Courier stopped with £2m cocaine in Skoda confessed to 'a lot' of drugs in boot

A drugs courier who was caught with cocaine worth almost £2m in the boot of his Skoda Fabia has been jailed.

Officers from Essex Police stopped Kieran Grant on the M11 at about 10.30pm on 31 March because checks on his Skoda showed it was uninsured.

The 40-year-old, from Hartington Road, Southend, was pulled over on the London-bound carriageway just before junction eight.

But officers quickly discovered there was more to investigate than a lack of insurance when Grant admitted his boot was full of cocaine.

Once he had got out of the car, officers began to question him, asking if there was anything in the car that they should be aware of.

Grant immediately replied: “In the boot.”

When asked what was in the boot, he replied: “Drugs - a lot. Cocaine.”

When the vehicle was searched, officers found 19 wrapped blocks of cocaine, totalling 19kg, which was being transported in two bags for life.

The drugs had a wholesale value of £665,000 and a street value of about £1.9m.

Grant was arrested and subsequently charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

He admitted both charges at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 2 April last year, and was sentenced on Friday at Basildon Crown Court to a total of eight years in prison. 

The drugs will also be destroyed.

Det Sgt Leo Fordham, of the serious and organised crime unit, said: "This was a sizeable seizure of drugs which were undoubtedly destined for the streets of Essex. 

"In this case, driving an uninsured car proved to be Grant’s downfall and outed him as a complicit criminal courier and he will now spend a significant amount of time behind bars for his actions."

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