A lorry driver who tried to smuggle £23 million worth of cocaine into the UK on behalf of an organised crime group has been jailed for 13 and a half years.

Darryl Sellars, 33, was sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty at his first court hearing for importing class A drugs.

Sellars, from Crowle near Scunthorpe, was in contact with members of a criminal network in the run-up to the attempt on February 28, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

NCA officers found evidence on his computers that he had searched the internet for “helpful tips when dealing with police sniffer dogs” and “how to conceal drugs from drug-sniffing dogs”.

A lorry driver who tried to smuggle £23 million worth of cocaine into the UK on behalf of an organised crime group has been jailed for 13 and a half years.

Sellars drove his lorry to the Netherlands overnight on February 26 to collect the drugs.

He was arrested two days later after returning on a ferry from the Hook of Holland to the port of Killingholme in north Lincolnshire.

Border Force officers discovered he was transporting 290 kilos of cocaine – with a street value of more than £23 million – hidden amongst a load of frozen mushrooms.

Sellars was questioned by officers from the NCA and Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit before being charged with class A importation offences.

NCA senior investigating officer Lee Stanton said: “Organised crime groups need smugglers like Sellars to bring their contraband into the UK.

“His was an important role in a wider criminal network, and our investigation into that network continues.

“Working with partners like Border Force and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit we are determined to do all we can to target and disrupt the criminal groups involved in trafficking drugs into the UK.”

Christina Brown, regional director of Border Force North, said: “Border Force remain committed to working round the clock to intercept drug supply chains and will continue [to] work closely with our counterparts to identify and prevent the new methods criminals take to smuggle illegal drugs.

“With thanks to the joint efforts of the NCA, Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit and Border Force, over £23 million worth of cocaine has been prevented from plaguing UK streets.

“Anyone with information about this type of illegal activity, particularly lorry drivers who we know can be approached by organised criminals, should contact the police on 101 or the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”

Lorry driver jailed for trying to smuggle cocaine hidden among frozen mushrooms