Truck Driver Sentenced for $10 Million Cocaine Smuggling Attempt

A 40-year-old truck driver was sentenced to 13½ years in prison for attempting to smuggle cocaine into England. Jakub Jan Konkel, a Polish national, tried to bring nearly $10 million worth of cocaine hidden in a shipment of clothing from Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS brand.

The U.K. court found Konkel guilty of driving a modified vehicle from the Netherlands to Essex. The nearly 200 lbs. of cocaine were concealed in 2.2 lb. packages within a compartment inside the back doors of the truck. Konkel received $5,243 for transporting the illegal substances.

Border officials stopped Konkel at a port northeast of London after his vehicle arrived via ferry from the Hook of Holland. X-ray scans of the cargo led to the discovery of the drugs. Investigators revealed that during a recorded 16-minute stop, the drugs were likely loaded onto Konkel’s truck. Konkel omitted this detail in his interview with law enforcement.

The parties involved in the import and export of SKIMS clothing were not connected to the drug smuggling. said the UK’s National Crime Agency. The shipment itself was legitimate, and SKIMS, co-founded by Kardashian in 2019, remains separate from these illegal activities. The company is valued at approximately $5 billion, while Forbes estimates Kardashian’s net worth at nearly $2 billion.