COCAINE and heroin worth millions of pounds was found hidden in a lorry inside a pallet of raspberry sorbet.
Three men have been jailed this month after being convicted of offences relating to the mammoth drugs seizure in 2017.
Police found the drugs - which consisted of 39kg of cocaine and 18kg of heroin – after it had been unloaded and stored at a frozen food warehouse unit in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire.
The consignment – believed to be the biggest drugs seizure in Nottinghamshire for many years - was stowed in a lorry trailer after 26 pallets of frozen yoghurt ice cream had been collected from a factory in Wellens, Belgium.
From there, the load was moved to Hook in Holland, before being shipped to the UK on August 10, 2017.
The lorry was followed by Border Force officers after it left the Port of Immingham, on the east coast of England, the following day.
They remained in convoy with the vehicle as it arrived in Bilsthorpe.
The drugs were found hidden in a pallet of raspberry sorbetWhen police searched the unloaded consignment, on August 14, they found a concealed compartment in one of the pallets which contained the drugs.
Following their investigation, five people were convicted of offences relating to the seizure.
John Brown, of Lawn Avenue in Woodlands, Doncaster collected a lorry from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, on August 8, 2017, and set off on a journey to Europe.
Two days later he arrived at a factory in Wellens, Belgium, where pallets of frozen ice cream were collected for their return journey to the UK.
The vehicle booking for Brown to travel from Holland on August 10, 2017 was made William Morritt, of Poplar Crescent in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, who was a director of a company which specialises in temperature-controlled transport.
John Brown, John Madden and William Morritt have been jailedJohn Madden, of Hall Lane in Kirkby, Knowsley, was also identified as being involved in the operation after phone records showed contact between the group members.
Brown pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug and conspiring to conceal criminal property.
The 54-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, December 8.
Morritt was found guilty following a jury trial of conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.
The 69-year-old was locked up for 18 years after appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on December 8.
Madden pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.
The 51-year-old was jailed for 21 years on December 8.
His parents, Bernard Madden, aged 72, of Hall Lane in Kirkby, Knowsley, and Marian Madden, aged 70, of Weaver Avenue in Kirkby, Knowsley, pleaded guilty to money laundering for their son.
They were not involved in the drugs importation and were each given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years.
Speaking afrer this month’s sentencing, Detective Inspector Mark Adas, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), said: “This complex investigation has resulted in the seizure of a very substantial haul of Class A drugs before they had the chance to reaching the streets and cause significant harm.”
He added: “Drugs fuel violent crime and other exploitative criminal activities and we will continue to work with our partners to protect our communities, combat such criminality and target those involved.”
