A trucker is has been charged after nearly half a tonne of cocaine was seized.

National Crime Agency investigators were called in after the haul was found at Dover.

It was found by Border Force officers carrying out checks on vehicles entering the UK on Wednesday evening.

Packages containing 470 kilos of the drug had been stuffed inside tyres being transported from the Netherlands on the back of a lorry.

The driver, German national Kawus Rafiei, 56, from Riedbahn, was questioned and later charged with the importation of a controlled substance, Class A drugs.

He was due appear before Margate Magistrates today.

NCA Branch Commander Martin Grace said: “This was a significant seizure of cocaine, the tyres were literally bulging because of the amount inside them.

“If cut and sold on the streets of the UK this load could have had a value of around of £50 million.

“Losing it represents a huge hit for the criminal network likely to be behind this attempted importation - profits which they will not be able to invest in other criminality.

“It also shows how, despite the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in with the coronavirus outbreak, the NCA, Border Force and our law enforcement partners are determined to disrupt organised crime and protect the public.

“That work goes on, and our investigation into this seizure continues.”

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Read more: All the latest news from Dover