Truck Driver Jailed for Trying to Smuggle Cocaine into the UK

Published: 04 October 2021

Vladimir MRDAK NCA

Vladimir Mrdak, 37, a truck driver Bosnia and Herzegovina, was jailed in the U.K. for trying to smuggle 40 kilograms of cocaine into the U.K. (Photo: National Crime Agency)

By Damir Bešlija

The U.K. authorities sent on Friday a truck driver from Derventa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, behind bars for nine years for trying to smuggle 40 kilograms of cocaine into the country, the National Crime Agency reported.

Vladimir Mrdak, 37, initially said he did not know how the drugs ended up in his truck, but eventually pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on August 16.

The drugs were found during a Border Force search of his Slovakian-registered truck at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Coquelles, France, on July 12. The cocaine packages worth nearly US$4.4 million were hidden among a load of bottle tops and paper rolls.

“The trade in cocaine is synonymous with exploitation and violence, and this seizure would have dented the profits of those who poison our communities by distributing it,” NCA Branch Commander, Mark Howes, said. “Our work with partners like Border Force to pursue the organised criminals behind drugs smuggling will never stop.”