A man who tried to smuggle £4m worth of ketamine into the UK via the Channel Tunnel has been jailed for three years and nine months after National Crime Agency (NCA) officers recovered footage of him buying wood to conceal the drugs.
Mika Voorhans, 21, of Roosendaal, the Netherlands, was arrested after 100 kilos of ketamine – a Class B drug which can cause significant bladder problems and affect mental health – were discovered behind panelling screwed to the inside of his van.
The NCA launched an investigation after Voorhans was stopped when attempting to board the Channel Tunnel in France in the early hours of 4 December 2023. Border Force officers spotted a bulge in the panelling and removed the wood, revealing the ketamine.
Voorhans denied knowledge of the drugs and told NCA investigators he hired the van to collect a second-hand motorbike in Coventry for a friend-of-a-friend. He claimed the panelling was installed by others, to prevent damage to the van. But officers found a tape measure and drill inside the vehicle, along with receipts revealing Voorhans had spent £850 on plywood and the tape measure at a DIY shop in Amsterdam three days before being stopped.
NCA officers, assisted by Dutch Police, retrieved shop CCTV footage before it could be wiped and the footage showed Voorhans buying the panelling and taking it to the van. Voorhans’ phone contained a video of the van being panelled and Snapchat posts requesting help with woodwork. Forensic analysts also identified Voorhans’ DNA on the drugs.
Faced with the irrefutable evidence gathered by officers, Voorhans abandoned his cover story and pleaded guilty to importing Class B drugs at Canterbury Crown Court on 9 October and was sentenced at the same court on Friday 13 December.
NCA Operations Manager Richard Deakin said:
“Voorhans prepared a cover story but he underestimated the close working relationship we have with police overseas and our determination to stop extremely harmful drugs making it to UK streets.
“Had Voorhans not been stopped, I have no doubt this huge quantity of drugs would have caused harm to a great many people in the UK. Instead, the ketamine will be destroyed and Voorhans is spending years in prison.”