Member of organised crime group jailed after largest ever cocaine seizure at Port of Tyne in North Shields.

Polish national Lucasz Sienkiewicz, 37, was arrested after the National Crime Agency linked him to an attempt to import 115kg of the drug, with an estimated value of £9.2m.

A jury convicted Sienkiewicz at Newcastle Crown Court on July 8, 2022 for attempting to import cocaine, and he was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on November 7.

Reporting restrictions on the case have only recently been lifted following the conclusion of a separate trial.

The cocaine shipment was discovered by Border Force officials after an x-ray scan found drugs in the spare tyres of a lorry delivering machine parts from the Netherlands in October 2018.

National Crime Agency officials recovered data from the lorry driver’s phone showing contact with Sienkiewicz, who was near the port in another vehicle on the same day.

Sienkiewicz was arrested at his Newcastle home two months later, at which point investigators could recover data from his mobile phones that suggested he would collect and distribute the drugs, had been in contact with a Dutch associate, and had purchased replacement lorry tyres.

Other Polish nationals who were members of this organised crime group were convicted in the Netherlands last year. A jury could not reach a verdict in the retrial of the lorry driver last week.

NCA branch commander Julie Booker said: “Sienkiewicz was part of an organised crime network trafficking cocaine into the UK and distributing it across the north east of England.

“The NCA is determined to protect the public from the global trade in illegal drugs, which fuels violence, intimidation, and exploitation in communities throughout the UK.

“We work in partnership with Border Force at ports and airports to target and disrupt the likes of Sienkiewicz, who play a crucial role in the criminal supply chain.”

Kieren Hamilton, assistant director for Border Force north, said: “Drug supply chains are violent and exploitative, degrading neighbourhoods across our country.

“The highly professional Border Force officers deployed at the Port of Tyne in North Shields identified this significant quantity of class A drugs as a result of dedicated operational activity, and utilising in depth search skills to detect a sophisticated concealment.

“The close collaboration between Border Force and NCA colleagues allowed them to develop this detection into an extended investigation, which has culminated in the two successful convictions.”