Cocaine importers Neranjan Persaud and Kryzstof Bakowski jailed

Neranjan Persaud, 60, from London, and Kryzstof Bakowski, 63, of no fixed address, have been given jail sentences totalling 31 years.

They denied being knowingly involved in the illegal importation of 50kg of cocaine on December 7 last year and being concerned in the supply of 50kg of cocaine on the same date.

Persaud also denied being concerned in the supply of just under one kilo of cocaine on November 30 last year.

Jailed - Neranjan Persaud (Image: Met Police)

Courier - Kryzstof Bakowski (Image: Met Police)

But they were unanimously convicted by a jury of all the offences after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Persaud, who was described as having a pivotal role in the operation, was jailed for 17 years and Bakowski, who was described as a "courier", was jailed for 14 years.

The court heard police saw Persaud park his car in Newcomen Way, Colchester, at about 8am on December 7 last year and speak to Bakowski, who was the driver of an articulated lorry which had stopped nearby.

Persaud was then seen to carry five identical cardboard boxes to his car before police intervened and arrested him and Bakowski.

Caught red handed - Bakowski's lorry is prepared to be towed (Image: Newsquest)

Persaud allegedly told police: “It’s all cocaine. I got told to collect it. I only got paid £250 a day to do this”.

He allegedly said he had got involved after getting into debt and that he and his family had been threatened, said Mr Hughes.

He said the boxes of drugs contained 50 one kilo packages of high-quality cocaine with a wholesale value of £1.3 to £1.5 million.

He said the drugs, which had a dog's face and the word "Pitbull" on the packaging, had a potential street value of between £4 and £6 million.

Mr Hughes alleged that a week before his arrest in Colchester, Persaud had delivered a carrier bag containing one kilo of cocaine to a man in Letchworth.