Rolf Warnars jailed for Harwich cocaine drug smuggling

Rolf Warnars' Renault Scenic was stopped by Border Force officers at Harwich International Port in north Essex in November last year, having travelled by ferry from the Hook of Holland in the Netherlands.

There was a heavy suitcase in the back of the car which Warnars claimed was packed with clothes for his trip. 

Upon a search, officers discovered 42kg of cocaine with a street value of £3.2m.

The drugs were individually wrapped per kilogram and tagged with a 'DIOR' label. 

Warnars, of Den Helder in the Netherlands, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to import cocaine into the country. 

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Investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA) analysed data on his mobile phone and discovered he had made four other trips to the UK from June 2023 to when he was arrested. 

Warnars was arrested for importing cocaine into the country (Image: NCA)

On each occasion he would arrive in the UK from the Netherlands, stay overnight in a hotel and return the following day. 

Evidence of his use of exchange tokens was also uncovered on the phone. 

Tokens are used as a method of verifying the correct recipient of drugs or illicit cash and often take the form of a banknote serial number as proof of receipt. 

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After pleading guilty to importing class A drugs, Warnars appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday where he was sentenced to 10 years and six months' imprisonment. 

Paul Orchard, operations manager at the NCA, said: "Cocaine supply fuels violence in communities across the UK, with direct links to knife crime and the exploitation of children and vulnerable adults.

"Our investigation evidenced that this wasn't a one-off for Warnars as he made several trips in the months before his arrest.

"The sentence handed down to him should serve as a stark warning to drug suppliers - you will be caught and put before the courts."