Trio jailed after £80m cocaine smuggled in lorry in Northampton

A third member of a cocaine smuggling gang has been jailed for 20 years after officers tracked 18 holdalls of the drug, valued at about £80m, in a lorry.

Police were called to a lay-by on the edge of Northampton, in November 2021 after a HGV driver reported that his container had been broken into and items were stolen.

Police said bystanders had seen a group of men unload “large wrapped packages” from a lorry into a grey van. Within two hours officers recovered the van and found 11 holdalls in it.

Craig Le-Mare, 36, of no fixed address, has been sentenced at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to supply cocaine. Two accomplices had already been jailed for the same offence.

Kelly Robertson, 46, of Peregrine Close, Watford, was jailed for 15 years at Snaresbrook Crown Court in November 2024.

Michael Weston, 57, also of no fixed address, was jailed for 12 years and nine months at the same court in May this year.