Two Polish men have been sentenced to a total of four years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle approximately 30 kilos of herbal cannabis and half a kilo of cannabis resin into the UK.

The drugs had an estimated street value of up to £92,000.

On 27 November 2011 at the Channel Tunnel entrance in Coquelles, France UK Border Agency officers stopped two German-registered Renault Scenics travelling together. When questioned the driver of the first vehicle, Miroslaw Bardzilowski, said they were going to the UK to deliver and fit LED lighting at a company in Birmingham called 'Aero Club'.

Officers were alerted when they noticed the address on the delivery paperwork related to an Aero Club in Birmingham, Alabama, USA not Birmingham, England.

The vehicles were searched and officers found hidden in the floor of both a number of brown wrapped packages. In total 43 packages, containing the cannabis, were removed from the vehicles.

Miroslaw Bardzilowski and the driver of the second vehicle, his ex brother in law Marcin Bardzilowski, were arrested and charged with the attempted importation.

Both men pleaded guilty at a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on 30 January and were sentenced the same day.

© Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2012