A 40-year-old truck driver attempted to bring nearly $10 million worth of cocaine into England by hiding it in a 28-pallet shipment of clothing from Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS brand.
A U.K. court sentenced Jakub Jan Konkel to 13½ years in prison on Monday for driving a customized vehicle from the Netherlands to Essex in September. The nearly 200 lbs. of cocaine in his truck was packaged in 2.2 lb. units that fit into a compartment inside the vehicle’s back doors.
Investigators said Konkel, a Polish national, was paid $5,243 to transport the contraband. He was stopped by border officials at a port located northeast of London. He and the vehicle arrived on a ferry from the Hook of Holland, where the cargo was X-rayed.
Authorities believe the drugs were loaded into Konkel’s truck during a 16-minute stop recorded by his tachograph that he didn’t mention during an interview with law enforcement.
The U.K.’s National Crime Agency said the parties involved in importing and exporting the clothing were not involved in the drug smuggling. The shipment was otherwise legitimate.
Skims was co-founded by Kardashian in 2019.
The company is believed to be worth $5 billion. Forbes puts Kardashian’s personal worth at nearly $2 billion.
