Smuggler wanted more leisure time • A truck driver who
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
admitted smuggling drugs to earn enough money to allow him to spend more time at home with his new girlfriend has been jailed for six years.
Jeffrey Oliver, from Stone, Staffs, was also ordered to forfeit £96,000 under the provisions of the Drug Trafficking Act after it was said that he had made £138,000 from his crimes.
Last week, Canterbury Crown Court heard that Oliver had been caught after being followed from Dover to Clackett Lane services on the M25, where he bought a padlock and fitted it to a side locker. He then drove on to the M40 where he was stopped. A search of the locker revealed 238kg of cannabis resin.
When Customs officers searched Oliver's home they found £64,000 in cash.
He told officers that he normally went on to High Wycombe where someone would remove the consignment of drugs and replace it with cash. He said he thought the boxes contained tobacco.
When Oliver's finances were investigated, it emerged that he earned less than £18,000 and his girlfriend earned L6,000—but he had a motor cycle and three cars, including two BMWs.
Edward Abaige, defending, said Oliver was deeply remorseful and had only become involved so that he would not have to be away from home to give his new relationship a chance to work. His marriage had failed because he had spent so much time away from home.