Drug smuggler jailed over cocaine haul

A drugs smuggler from Co Down caught with more than £500,000 (€745,300) worth of cocaine at Dover docks has been jailed for 12 years.

Gerald Anthony Devlin (aged 39) was intercepted by customs officers in October last year.

He claimed his trailer was carrying stage furniture, which had been loaded in Belgium to be delivered to Dublin.

But during a search a white box with a plastic bag inside which contained 10 kilogrammes of white powder was discovered. It tested positive as cocaine hydrochloride, a jury was told at Canterbury Crown Court.

Devlin from Bemish Crescent, Newry, who was stopped at freight controls at Eastern Docks, Dover, had denied possessing the drugs, which had a street value of £510,000 (€760,200).

He was convicted yesterday at the end of a three-day trial when the judge claimed Devlin was more than a courier and much more involved in drug smuggling.