Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, admitted he agreed to smuggle the drugs in exchange for cash after being stopped at a UK port
By Catholics for Catholics
A Polish truck driver was led to jail for smuggling over $8 million worth of cocaine which was hidden in a shipment of clothing and underwear belonging to Kim Kardashian’s “Skims” brand.
British authorities sentenced Jakub Jan Konkel, 40, to 13 years and six months in prison on Monday for hiding a cache of drugs inside his truck carrying 28 pallets of Skims clothing from the Netherlands, according to the National Crime Agency, reported Fox News.
Still, detectives said the SKIMS shipment itself was genuine and that neither the exporter nor importer was accused of misconduct. Representatives for SKIMS and Kardashian did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Konkel was stopped by Border Force officers on Sept. 5 at the Port of Harwich in Essex after he disembarked on a ferry from the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands.
Police said the truck was carrying 28 pallets of SKIMS clothing when agents uncovered a hidden section formed into the rear trailer doors. The vehicle had been specially modified to conceal the drugs inside the trailer, investigators said.
Police said trafficking groups often conceal narcotics inside legal commercial shipments to evade detection.
“Organized crime groups use corrupt drivers like Konkel to move Class A drugs often hidden on entirely legitimate loads such as this,” NCA Operations Manager Paul Orchard said.
Concealed in the hidden section were 90 kilogram-sized packages of cocaine with an appraised street value of about $9.6 million, authorities said.
In addition, detectives also said Konkel’s vehicle records showed a mysterious16-minute stop before reaching the port, where authorities contend the drugs were loaded into the truck, with only Konkel and the smuggling group aware of the operation.
At first, Konkel denied being aware of the cocaine, but later pleaded guilty to drug smuggling, conceding he agreed to transport the drugs in exchange for €4,500, or roughly $5,200, according to the NCA.
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