A van driver from Staffordshire was jailed for ten years at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 42 kilos of heroin into the UK.

The drugs had an estimated street value of two million pounds.

Neil Anthony Tasker, 52, of Clay Street, Penkridge, Stafford was stopped by UK Border Agency officers at Dover Eastern Docks on 5 September 2009 driving a UK-registered VW van containing car parts destined for Liverpool.

After questioning Tasker, officers searched the vehicle. When the front seat was unbolted and raised, they found 42 wrapped packages which tested positive for heroin.

Tasker was arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling and questioned by the UK Border Agency. He initially claimed to be of no fixed abode, but further investigations showed his home address to be in Penkridge, Stafford. Officers visited the property and found £13,500 hidden in a food canister. Tasker was then arrested again for money laundering.

Malcolm Bragg, Assistant Director of Criminal and Financial Investigations for the UK Border Agency, said:

'Drugs devastate lives and harm communities. The UK Border Agency is alert to the various ways in which attempts are made to smuggle drugs into the UK. This sentence will serve as a deterrent to others contemplating this serious form of criminality.

'I would encourage anyone with information relating to drug smuggling to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111'.

Tasker received 10 years for the heroin importation and two years for money laundering offences, to run consecutively. Confiscation proceedings are likely to be sought at a later stage.