A Sevenoaks man has been jailed for 11 years for his part in a £2m cocaine smuggling operation.

Roy Basson was been followed by police and caught loading the drugs into a Citroen Berlingo in Maidenhead.

Basson and pal Paul Worthington were seen to exchange 20kg of the Class A drug on May 20 this year.

The 39-year-old was arrested while wearing a Latex glove as he was loading the cocaine, divided into a hidden floor of the Citroen.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Worthington, 41, had handed over the cocaine to Basson inside a laundry bag and was arrested nearby in his VW Transporter van.

The court heard police found a notepad in which a number of postcodes were written and messages on one of Worthington's iPhones showed he was being directed to make multiple exchanges.

Construction worker Basson, of Stonehouse Road, Halstead, Sevenoaks, and Worthington, of Egham, Surrey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and were both jailed for 11 years.

Prosecutor Nicola Merrick said that they played 'significant roles in the drug smuggling operation'.

Basson claimed he offered to be a courier to pay off a £2,500 drug debt. Worthington, who had run up a £5,000 gambling debt, claimed he was to receive just £300 - but this was rejected by the prosecution.

She said:"They clearly had an expectation, given the amount of drugs they were dealing with, of a significant financial or other advantage and there clearly must have been some awareness and understanding of the scale of this operation."

Judge Charles Gratwicke said Class A drugs were 'nothing but a scourge' on society.

He told them: "You both went into this with your eyes wide open. You both knew that drugs were involved and yet you decided you were going to go down that road. That was your choice.

"This was a considerable amount of drug you were involved in transporting. You clearly had some awareness and understanding of the scale of the operation and were motivated by financial gain."

Steven Attridge, defending Basson, said the hard-working and dedicated father had 'gone in off the deep end' by agreeing to act as a courier.

"This is his first time in prison and the reality of a life in custody has come as a dreadful shock."

He added that the van, with the hidden compartment, had been delivered to Basson about two months before the cocaine exchange.

Felicia Davy, defending Worthington, told the court he agreed to his 'limited' courier role due to 'spiralling debt and terrible judgment'.

After sentencing, DC Stuart Clayton said: "This was a significant drug find which involved a vehicle being professionally modified in order to hide a large amount of cocaine.

"They were caught red-handed trying to hide the drugs and had they not been intercepted the drugs would have been sold to various networks where a number of drug users and their families would have been negatively impacted.

"We work hard across the county to target drug dealers in order to stop the sale and distribution of drugs within Kent and Medway and this is a good example of the cross-border work we carry out.

"They may not have been drug dealers themselves but by acting as couriers they are just as accountable, and their sentences reflect this criminality."

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