Drug couriers who tried to hide cocaine worth £2m in the back of a van have been jailed for 11 years each.

Paul Worthington was seen on Thursday 20 May 2021 to pass a laundry style bag to Roy Basson during a drug deal in Maidenhead.

Basson then disappeared into the back of his Citroen Berlingo van and as officers approached him he was witnessed attempting to hide 20 blocks of cocaine inside a specially built compartment. The drugs had an estimated street value of between £1m and £2m.

Paul Worthington and Roy Basson desktop
L to R: Roy Basson and Paul Worthington

Both men were arrested by officers and as part of the investigation police also seized two mobile phones and a notepad with postcodes written down.

On Thursday 23 September 2021, Basson, 39, of Stonehouse Road, Sevenoaks, and Worthington, 41, of Bryant Avenue, Slough, were both sentenced after they each admitted a charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Basson was also charged with acquiring criminal property, which was ordered to lie on file

Drug collage desktop
The hidden compartment and cocaine

The drug couriers were each jailed for 11 years at Maidstone Crown Court and the judge also passed a forfeiture and destruction order for the drugs, cash and van.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Stuart Clayton said: ‘This was a significant drug find which involved a vehicle being professionally modified in order to hide a large amount of cocaine.
‘They were caught red-handed trying to hide the drugs and had they not been intercepted the drugs would have been sold to various networks where a number of drug users and their families would have been negatively impacted.
‘We work hard across the county to target drug dealers in order to stop the sale and distribution of drugs within Kent and Medway and this is a good example of the cross-border work we carry out.
‘They may not have been drug dealers themselves but by acting as couriers they are just as accountable, and their sentences reflect this criminality.’

By Ed

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