The BBC
An organised crime gang has been jailed after the largest ever seizure of illegal drugs in East Sussex.
About 632kg of ketamine and 70kg of cocaine – with a combined estimated street value of £24.5m – was seized on the A26 in Maresfield on 26 July 2023.
The substances, which were concealed in 30 cardboard boxes, had been shipped into the UK via Newhaven Port by lorry driver Pavel Budzko.
Rachel Bramley, operations manager at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: “This crime group sought to flood the south of England with drugs, all for their own financial gain, without any care for the misery their harmful commodities bring to our communities.”
The drugs were transported in two vans, one of which was driven by Charlotte Moore, with Stephen Norris as a passenger.
Both were arrested and the drugs were seized, while Budzko had evaded police, but was later arrested re-entering the UK.
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