A DRUG smuggling lorry driver has been jailed after he was caught transporting more than £10 million of cocaine... in a lorry carrying Coca-Cola. 

Ivan Cosintev, who is Kazakhstani, was sentenced on Tuesday after he admitted one charge of being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.

The court heard how Cosintev, 56, was found with 140 packages containing 165.79kg of cocaine stored in the bunk of his cab inside a lorry transporting soft drink Coca-Cola. 

Border force staff at Harwich International Port searched the vehicle and Cosintev on December 18 last year before arresting him the same day.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Scene - Harwich International PortScene - Harwich International Port (Image: Submitted)
Adam Budworth, prosecuting, said Cosintev – a lorry driver of nearly 40 years – was fully aware of the scale of the drug smuggling operation.

He said: “The defendant must have had some awareness and understanding of the scale of the operation due to the fact the drugs were found where they were found.

“He would have been aware of the size of the confinement of cocaine.”

But the defending barrister told the Recorder King that Cosintev had been coerced into smuggling the cocaine in the UK after threats of physical violence to his family were made.

The court also heard how Cosintev gave into the drug lords because his children had apparently been killed by members of the Russian mafia.

The barrister said: “Cosintev took these threats extremely seriously.

“He is married and has been before and is divorced.

“The children from his first marriage were murdered, and it’s highly likely to have been Russian mafia.

“Having experienced in the past what can happen when you stand up to these people, receiving the threats this time, he took it extremely seriously.”

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Threats – the court heard how Ivan Cosintev was pressured by gangs into transporting the cocaineThreats – the court heard how Ivan Cosintev was pressured by gangs into transporting the cocaine (Image: Essex Police)

Overseeing the case, Recorder King said Cosintev had “very little awareness of the scale of the operation”.

He said: “The scale and extent of that operation remains outside of your actual knowledge.

“I should add that it is clear that you would have had a very direct experience of that ruthlessness because of the events that surrounded the death of your children.

"I am satisfied you were engaged because of pressure and intimidation.”

Cosintev will serve four years and three months in jail, and must pay a surcharge of £228