A lorry driver was caught trying to smuggle heroin and cocaine hidden under boxes of frozen pizza.

Adam Grzelj was one of two truckers jailed for a combined total of 31 years after being found guilty of trying to bring class A drugs into the UK.

The National Crime Agency began an investigation into Slovenian national Grzelj, 52, last April after his lorry was intercepted at Dover.

The packages of drugs were found concealed in pallets beneath the boxes of frozen pizza.

Border Force officers recovered 81kg of cocaine and 3kg of heroin, which would have had a street value of £6.7 million.

Grzelj was found guilty last Friday at Canterbury Crown Court of importing class A drugs. He was jailed for 15 years.

The second driver, Kiril Petkov Hubavenski, 34, from Vidrare in Bulgaria, was detained at Dover on June 20 last year.

Officers found 11kg heroin and 26kg of cocaine hidden beneath the mattresses of the bunks in his cab.

NCA forensic experts valued the haul at £3.2m.

Hubavenski had recently been released from prison in Bulgaria after being convicted of unlawful killing in 2014.

He was found guilty of drug smuggling yesterday (Monday) and was jailed for 16 years.

NCA Dover branch operations manager Debbie Cook said: “Organised criminal gangs rely on corrupt drivers like these to bring their illicit commodities into the UK.

“They form a vital role in the criminal supply chain that sees violence and exploitation at every step – linking the cartels in South America to the street gangs here in the UK.

“These men have received substantial and life-changing jail terms for that. I hope it sends out a message to other hauliers who might consider doing the same.

“Working with partners like Border Force we are determined to do all we can to track down and convict anyone who would try to breach our border controls in this way.”

Read more: All the latest news from Dover