THREE men including one from Co Derry have admitted to conspiring to smuggle cocaine worth £5.5 million from the UK to the Republic.
Lorry driver Joseph Gray (52), from Draperstown, was stopped by officers at Holyhead port in Wales on October 9 last year.
Around 69 kilos of cocaine were found hidden among pallets of yoghurt and orange juice in his lorry.
Gray had collected the drugs the day before from conspirators Moynul Hoque (31), of Clapton, London, and Usman Iqbal (35), of Grays, Essex.
Gray was arrested in Holyhead as he was about to travel to Dublin.
Hoque and Iqbal were arrested together on December 12 at the UK custom controls at the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles, France, as they were travelling in a Belgian registered BMW.
At a hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday, the trio admitted to exporting Class A drugs.
They will be sentenced on March 4.
National Crime Agency senior investigating officer Callum Gracey said: "These drugs would have put vast sums of money back into the hands of criminals who would have reinvested it into more offending.
"Class A drugs are at the centre of violence and misery which blight some of our communities.
"The NCA works closely with partners at home and abroad to fight the Class A drugs threat and to protect the public from the harm drugs cause."
