UK jails driver for smuggling cocaine in shipment of Kim Kardashian underwear
The driver, from Poland, was sentenced to over 13 years in prison for smuggling US$9.4 million worth of the drug
A British court sentenced a Polish lorry driver to more than 13 years in prison for smuggling £7 million (US$9.4 million) worth of cocaine in a shipment of underwear and clothing from Skims, Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, authorities said on Monday.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, was driving a vehicle carrying 28 pallets of Skims clothing from the Netherlands when he was stopped by border officials at a port in Essex in September.
The agency said Konkel had stopped on the way to collect 90kg (198 pounds) of cocaine and that the truck had been specially adapted so that he could hide the drugs, wrapped in packages, in a compartment of the truck’s back doors.
The agency said the shipment of clothing was legitimate and neither the exporter nor importer were connected to the smuggled load.
Konkel said he had agreed to move the drugs for a payment of €4,500 (US$5,243), according to the agency.
He was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison for drug smuggling at Chelmsford Crown Court following the NCA investigation.