TWO drivers have been jailed for ten years each after cocaine worth £5m was found in the boot of a car on the A127.

Officers from the Met Police spotted a Mini Countryman and a lorry driving on convoy down the A127 near Basildon, before both vehicles pulled over into a layby on the London-bound carriageway.

 Laimutis Vikerta, from Lithuania, was seen passing two large suitcases from the HGV to the driver of the Mini, Vicrahdeep Sahota.

The vehicles were then stopped by officers and the men were detained for the purpose of a drugs search.

During the search officers seized 49 kilograms of cocaine, located in the two suitcases.

The cocaine has an estimated street value of £5million.

Both defendants, Vikerta, 41, and Sahota, 29, from Reading, were charged and pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday, 10 November.

The pair had pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Detective Inspector Jim Casey, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “This is a significant seizure of high purity cocaine which would have no doubt caused hardship and misery across all the communities of London and beyond.

"As a result of my team’s professionalism and commitment to keeping all communities safe this has not been allowed to happen.

“I hope that these sentences serve as a deterrent to those involved or thinking about getting involved in the supply of controlled drugs on the streets of London.”