Drugs found in coffee machine consignment

Amphetamines and cannabis resin with a street value of £6.3 million were seized among a consignment of coffee machines at the Port of Dover, HM Revenue and Customs said today.

Officers from the UK Border Agency discovered the haul hidden in 34 boxes after stopping a Polish-registered lorry at Dover's eastern docks as it was en route to Northampton.

Gracjan Marcin Zientara, 32, was arrested as he arrived at the freight lanes on Tuesday and was charged with drug smuggling offences under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.

Zientara, from Pila in north-western Poland, was remanded in custody to appear at Dover Magistrates' Court next month, a HM Revenue and Customs spokesman said.

Assistant director for HM Revenue and Customs, Malcolm Bragg, said: "The success of this latest operation highlights our proactive role in reducing drugs being brought into the UK.

"Our priority, in partnership with the UKBA, is to wipe out illegal drugs and their availability on city streets. We hope our efforts will reduce the devastating impact drugs have on individuals as well as the wider effect on local communities.

"We will continue to take stringent action and bring individuals before the courts."