Dutch gang smuggled cocaine and heroin into UK using fake ambulances

Audacious Dutch smugglers may have sneaked up to £1.6bn (€2.3bn) worth of cocaine and heroin into the UK using “a fleet” of fake ambulances, a court heard.

Leonardus Bijlsma and Dennis Vogelaar were allegedly part of a “lucrative criminal conspiracy” to sneak huge hauls of drugs into the country, according to prosecutors.

A Birmingham Crown Court jury was told that the operation, fronted by a bogus ambulance company in Holland, may have seen up to £420m in “top-quality” class A drugs reach the UK, via the Channel’s ferry ports.