A man who was arrested after cocaine with an estimated street value of £8million was found in a lorry container has given evidence in court.

Taking the stand in Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday was 49-year-old Vitali Macari of Iasi, Romania.

He has pleaded not guilty to being concerned in carrying, concealing or dealing cocaine with intent to evade the prohibition on importing the drug in March 2023.

Police officers were called to a premises in Iceni Way, Haverhill, last March after a hidden compartment was discovered as a container was being unloaded.

The container was taken to a secure location where a search and forensic inquiries took place.

Seventy-five packages of cocaine with a potential street value of more than £8m were recovered.

The purity of the kilo blocks was between 71% - 77%, making it high quality.

The court heard the defendant was a lorry driver transporting a load of yoghurt, and when he was arrested four empty duffle bags were found in the lorry.

However, no DNA matching the defendant was recovered on anything.

Macari had driven the lorry from France to England.

When he was arrested, police asked what he had originally planned to do and he said he was going to complete the transportation of yoghurt and then get a ferry back to France.

Prosecutor Jane Oldfield questioned Detective Constable Chris Townrow before Macari took the stand in his defence.

DC Townrow told the court the ferry booking could not be found on the information on the phone taken by police from Macari.

However DC Townrow admitted to defence barrister David Osborne this did not necessarily mean a booking had never been made.

Macari took the stand and told Osbourne he had no idea that his boss had a history of criminality.

He said when he returned to work after Christmas 2022 his boss had replaced the trailer of the lorry he drove but he had not noticed any modifications to it.

The trial continues.