A 57-year-old Indian-origin man who admitted to a conspiracy to smuggle heroin into the UK was on Thursday sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, with a co-conspirator being jailed for nine years following a trial in south-eastern England.
Rajesh Bakshi, from the East Lothian region of Scotland, had pleaded guilty to smuggling the Class A banned drug after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation identified his fingerprints on a consignment, with a street value of 4 million pounds, was stopped at the port of Dover in June 2022.
His co-conspirator Jon-Paul Clark, 44, attempted to deny any involvement and told a jury at Canterbury Crown Court that his DNA was found on the smuggled drugs because he was wearing Bakshi's sweater.
"My officers built a solid case against Clark, who clearly tried to pull the wool over the jury's eyes," said Jules Harriman, NCA's Senior Investigating Officer.
"There was clear evidence of his guilt and the jury saw through his attempts to cheat justice. Both offenders didn't have the slightest care for the impact class A drugs have on our communities.
"The NCA, working with partners at home and abroad, will continue to do everything possible to fight the threat of Class A drugs," he said.
Both accused were sentenced by Canterbury Crown Court this week. The NCA said that Clark and Bakshi's phones were identified as travelling in the Netherlands and Belgium in the days leading up to the drugs' seizure at the UK port.
"Officers found a photo of Clark and Bakshi together on Clark's phone taken just days before the drugs were intercepted. Texts were also found of Clark asking Bakshi for cash in the weeks following the seizure," the agency stated.
Bakshi was found to have multiple previous convictions, including conspiring and being involved with the supply of a controlled drug.
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