Southwark Crown Court sentenced two men on Thursday for their roles in a £10 million cocaine smuggling operation that moved 290 kilograms of class A drugs through a UPS facility in Essex.
Zak Archbold, 30, a supervisor at the depot in Stanford-le-Hope, received a 12-year sentence for manipulating tracking systems to bypass customs checks.
Co-defendant Steven Bullen, 51, was jailed for 16 years and four months for managing the distribution network from Spain.
The international trafficking ring was uncovered in 2020 after law enforcement decrypted the EncroChat messaging app.
The network used code names like "Veggie Kray," "Ghost," and "Cuddly Bandit," while Archbold operated under the alias "King."
Judge Nathaniel Rudolf KC told Archbold he "enthusiastically played your part," noting the supervisor initially joined due to personal debt.
The court found Bullen held a superior position, using specialized vehicle compartments and designated drivers to distribute hundreds of kilograms of drugs.
"Taking part in the way you both did in high-level criminality involving this amount of drugs is a pathway of risk and reward," the judge said.
"The reward is financial, and the risk is prosecution and conviction."
Both defendants knowingly accepted those risks.
Bullen pleaded guilty to conspiracies involving 790 kilograms of cocaine, 242 kilograms of MDMA, and 114 kilograms of amphetamine.
"Zak Archbold abused his position while working for a reputable courier company and facilitated the importation of cocaine from Europe into the UK," said Gemma Vincent of the Crown Prosecution Service.
She emphasized that international cooperation—including prosecutors in the UK, Spain, and France, Spanish police, and the NCA—was vital to securing convictions.
Authorities confirmed asset forfeiture proceedings will follow.
"Going forward, we will seek to confiscate their ill-gotten gains," Vincent said, adding that the sentences should deter other criminals.
"Drugs have a devastating and costly impact on society, and we will continue to work across borders to prosecute those who seek to flood our streets for their own gain."
Archbold denied using the "King" alias during trial, but internal messages exposed the conspiracy after he warned a courier that a separate theft scheme could inadvertently reveal the drug importation channel.
