A Canvey man who smuggled millions of pounds of drugs into the UK has been jailed for 14 years.
Richard Podd, 38, of Central Avenue, Canvey, was found guilty at St Albans Crown Court for smuggling £4.4 million of Ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis into the country.
Customs officers seized a cocktail of drugs found in a lorry at Harwich International Port on April 16 2003.
The stash contained more than 100,000 esctasy tablets, 103 kilos of white amphetamine powder and 49 kilos of cannabis.
Police arrested Podd in November 2003 for his part in the smuggling ring after forensic tests found one of his fingerprints on one of the boxes.
He was found guilty of three counts of smuggling relating to the different types of drugs.
He received 14 years for smuggling the ecstasy tablets, seven years for smuggling amphetamines, an five years for the cannabis.
The three jail sentences are to be served concurrently.
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