A pair of smugglers have been jailed for a total of 19 years for importing Class A drugs worth £300,000.

The two Dutchmen, in unconnected attempts, were caught in January by Harwich customs officers.

Louis Berkhof, 41, an unemployed carpenter from Rotterdam, was sentenced to nine years in jail.

He was detected at Harwich on January 17 this year with more than a kilogram of cocaine concealed in his shoes.

Albertus Slangewal, 42 and unemployed from Arnhem, was stopped the next day and four kilos of heroin was found concealed in the door panel of the car he was driving. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

Both had previously pleaded guilty to the drug smuggling offences.

They were each sentenced on Friday at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Published Monday February 28, 2005

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