A man has been charged as part of an investigation into the attempted importation of heroin with a potential street value of £800,000 into Harwich International Port.

Border Force officers seized about 20kg of heroin hidden in a lorry load of crisps, which arrived from Poland, via the Netherlands on Wednesday, April 15.

Darius Urban, 48, of Ostrzeszow, Poland, appeared before magistrates on Friday, charged with attempting to import a class A drug, and was remanded in custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on May 15.

Monitoring of the drugs market shows less availability and rising prices in the UK as a result of coronavirus, according to Mark Spoors, of the National Crime Agency, who said organised criminals, including drug traffickers, were attempting to evade law enforcement, adding: “This means drugs continue to be a valuable commodity and criminals will continue to work to run their criminal enterprises.”