A man who claimed he was on a day trip to Dunkirk when he was actually in Amsterdam picking up heroin worth £800,000 has been jailed.
Daniel Whereatt, 48, of Seymour Road, Bristol was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
He was stopped at Dover’s Eastern Docks on March 18 2019 as he returned to the UK and his car was searched by Border Force officers after they noticed a strong smell of fuel inside the vehicle.
The NCA said the lining and cushions of the back seats were removed and 18 tape-wrapped packages filled with a brown powder were found submerged inside the fuel sender tanks.
Officers tested the powder and 6kg were found to be heroin with an estimated street value of £800,000.
A further 2kg were found to contain paracetamol and caffeine, which the NCA said are common cutting agents for heroin.
The NCA said Whereatt told officers that he had been in Dunkirk for the day, sleeping in his vehicle before returning to the UK.
But phone analysis showed Whereatt had been in Amsterdam at the time he claimed he had been in Dunkirk.
The NCA said his DNA was also discovered on a screwdriver and metal file found next to the fuel sender unit where the drugs were found.
Whereatt pleaded guilty to importing 6kg of heroin on January 4, the NCA said, adding that he was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.
Mark Howes, branch commander at the NCA, said: “This was an attempt to bring potentially lethal drugs into the UK and generate hundreds of thousands of pounds from their supply to vulnerable people.
“Whereatt had only insured the vehicle for two days and we believe this was solely for the purpose of picking up the heroin in Amsterdam and bringing it back to his contacts at home.
“Heroin is a very dangerous drug and brings with it exploitation and violence.
“We will continue our work with Border Force and other partners to target smugglers like Whereatt and bring them to justice.”
