TWO lorry drivers have been jailed for a total of 27 years after £3.2million of heroin was discovered at Harwich Port.
A shipment of 32 kilos of the Class A drug were seized following a National Crime Agency investigation at the port.
Polish nationals Stanislaw Walczak, 43 and Robert Wyzuj, 55, were stopped in their HGV at Harwich docks.
They had arrived at Harwich from the Netherlands on February 18.
Jailed - Stanislaw Walczak, 43 and Robert Wyzuj
Searches of the vehicle by Border Force officers found that, in addition to a legitimate load of plastics destined for Leicester, the trailer contained 64 blocks of heroin.
Both men were arrested and officers also recovered a canister containing pepper spray and a mobile phone.
The phone was later found to connect the lorry drivers to criminal associates in the Netherlands.
Concealed - the drugs were concealed in a bag within a cardboard box
Both Walczak and Wyzuj denied knowing that they were transporting heroin.
But National Crime Agency investigators were able to obtain DNA evidence linking both men to the handles of the bag in which the drugs were concealed.
The agency said the drugs would have had an estimated street value of £3.2 million if cut and sold in the UK.
Shipment - the drugs were discovered at Harwich Port
Following a seven day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, both men were found guilty on Friday of the importation of Class A drugs.
They were also both found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Walczak was sentenced to 14 years and Wyzuj received a sentence of 13 years.
Seized - the heroin was valued at £3.2million
National Crime Agency branch commander Lydia Bloomfield said: “This seizure prevented a substantial amount of heroin from landing on our streets.
“Heroin is a drug supplied by criminal groups engaged in violence and county-lines style exploitation.
"These two men were a vital part of that corrosive system.”
“Disrupting that supply chain denies ruthless criminals their profits.
"The National Crime Agency continues to work with Border Force and our other partners to prevent illegal drugs from reaching the United Kingdom."
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