On The Run Drug Smuggler Jailed After Complaining About Towed Car

A lorry driver who went on the run while awaiting trial for drug smuggling has been recaptured and imprisoned after he visited a police station to complain about his car being towed.

Johannes Huizer, a Dutch national, was originally charged after Border Force officers at the North Shields International Ferry Terminal in Tyneside found two pallets containing cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine and heroin in the back of his lorry in December 2013.

The haul, which weighed around 240 kilos, had a potential street value of £21.5 million.

Huizer was questioned by National Crime Agency investigators and charged with importation offences.

In July 2014 he was granted bail and absconded. His trial was delayed, a European Arrest Warrant was issued and the NCA began working with international partners to find him.

By November 2014 officers had tracked Huizer to an address near Antwerp and plans were in place with the Belgian police to arrest him.

However, before those plans could be carried out Huizer walked into a police station in Antwerp to complain that his car had been towed after being parked illegally. He was promptly arrested and extradited to the UK to face trial.

On 11 June 2015 a jury at Newcastle Crown Court found him guilty of conspiracy to import controlled drugs. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Matt Rivers, from the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command, said: "Huizer thought that he could escape justice by fleeing the UK, but there is no hiding place for fugitives. The NCA has very effective partnerships with international agencies which we can use to bring criminals to justice."

(MH)