£80m cocaine heist foiled in Northampton lay-by: three drug smugglers jailed
Three drug smugglers who attempted to steal 780kg of cocaine from a lorry in Northampton have been jailed. The final member of the trio was sentenced this week after a two-year Met Police investigation.
Three jailed after £80m cocaine seized from lorry in Northampton lay-by
A lorry driver stopping for a cup of tea inadvertently foiled a multimillion-pound drug heist in November 2021, bbc.com reports. The driver had pulled into a lay-by on Lilliput Road, Northampton, when he noticed his container had been broken into — triggering a chain of events that would ultimately put three drug smugglers behind bars.
The container, which had left Mexico on 30 September 2021 and arrived at the Port of Felixstowe on 12 November, was supposed to be carrying 29 pallets of steel furniture parts. Witnesses told officers they saw a grey transit van park at the rear of the lorry before a group of men quickly moved in, blocking any possible exit and removing "large, wrapped packages from the rear before fleeing from the scene".
Within two hours, Northamptonshire Police had located the transit van and recovered 11 holdalls containing drugs. Inside the lorry, officers found a further seven holdalls of cocaine. The combined haul weighed 780kg — with an estimated street value of more than £80m.
A specialist Metropolitan Police team took over the investigation, which would eventually expose the roles of Craig Le-Mare, Kelly Robertson and Michael Weston. The trio had spent a month planning the operation, hiring vehicles and placing people ahead of the attempted theft.
Officers established that the gang had arrived in Ipswich on the same day the shipment docked in England. Financial records showed they had "booked rooms at a budget hotel, hired a van and ordered large takeaways to their rooms". They then trailed the lorry 125 miles from the haulage yard to Northampton, travelling in a black Ford Mondeo, a grey Vauxhall Astra and a white BMW.
After the seizure, the three attempted to evade capture. Officers said they "switched cars, changed number plates, split up and even falsely reported the van as stolen". Phone records revealed Weston had sent a message to his partner saying "things are happening for me v soon" — but later shared a link to a BBC news article about the drugs seizure, complaining he was now "skint" for Christmas.
Le-Mare fled the country shortly after the drugs were found. He was arrested at Gatwick Airport in January last year. The 36-year-old, of no fixed address, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at the Old Bailey and sentenced to 20 years in jail this week. Judge Richard Marks KC told him he had played a significant role in the multimillion-pound operation and that the suggestion he had been paid only £6,000 for his involvement was "entirely fanciful".
Robertson, 46, of Peregrine Close, Watford, and Weston, 57, of no fixed address, had already pleaded guilty to the same charge. Robertson was sentenced to 15 years at Snaresbrook Crown Court in November 2024; Weston received 12 years and nine months at the same court in May this year.
Det Insp Dean Grafton, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation, said his team's work had exposed "an intricately planned operation, where the defendants hoped to make millions by selling cocaine across the UK." He said officers had "meticulously unravelled their operation, conclusively proving their role in the attempted heist."
Assistant Chief Constable Emma James, of Northamptonshire Police, said the swift response by her officers "helped secure crucial evidence and disrupt the criminal group's plans."
Source: The Sun