Two drug dealers sentenced in attempt to smuggle £19.4 million cocaine

‘This was a brazen attempt to smuggle a large amount of cocaine into the UK’

The drugs, if sold on UK’s streets, are estimated to be worth £19.4 million. (NCA)

The Canterbury Crown Court sentenced two men from the northwest on Tuesday, after a failed attempt to smuggle 243 kilos of cocaine on an empty passenger coach into the UK.

Mark Tucker and Christopher Bullows were given 16 years and 14 years and four months at a court hearing on 6 July.

National Crime Agency’s investigation started last year after the Border Force stopped their coach at Dover Docks. NCA questioned driver Bullows and his passenger after finding cocaine hidden in a specially constructed wastewater tank.

The drugs, if sold on UK’s streets, are estimated to be worth £19.4 million.

Bullows, 50, of Lord Street, St Helens, told NCA investigators that he had taken the coach to Belgium to repair the air conditioning system, which was under warranty at the time. He said that Tucker was a friend and had come along ‘for the jolly’.

Tucker, 54, of Longshaw Street, Blackburn, said he was a mechanic and had joined Bullows on the trip to check on the repairs.

Further enquiries established that the air conditioning had been mended in the UK just months before the trip.

Bullows and Tucker were charged with attempting to import class A drugs. After denying the charges initially, Bullows changed his plea to guilty at Canterbury Crown Court on 22 April. Tucker was convicted by a jury on 11 May, following a five-day trial at the same court.

NCA Branch Commander Mark McCormack said: “This was a brazen attempt to smuggle a large amount of cocaine into the UK, but it hasn’t ended well for Tucker and Bullows. Not only was their lethal cargo seized, but they are also now facing long spells in jail.

McCormack said that drugs smuggling is behind violence and exploitation in our communities, with vulnerable people often paying the highest price.

“We will continue to work with partners like Border Force to break the supply chains behind this despicable trade and dismantle the organised crime groups involved.”

Dave Smith, Director of Border Force South East, said: “This is a significant sentence that sends a strong message that we will use every effort of UK law enforcement to disrupt criminal networks and stop drugs entering the UK.”

The NCA’s investigation was aided by specialists from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), who helped obtain evidence about the coach’s travel patterns from its tachograph.