A truck containing Kim Kardashian's SKIMS brand was used to conceal 90kg, or nearly 200 pounds, of cocaine during an attempted smuggling operation in England, which was ultimately busted.
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SKIMS has found itself part of an unusual predicament.
A delivery driver in the United Kingdom was arrested and charged for smuggling more than £7 million (approximately $9.5 million) worth of cocaine in a truck carrying Kim Kardashian's clothing brand, the National Crime Agency confirmed in a May 18 press release.
Jakub Jan Konkel was stopped by Border Force officers in Essex in September while arriving on a ferry from the Netherlands. After 28 pallets of SKIMS products were x-rayed, authorities said the load was "entirely legitimate and neither the exporter nor importer were connected to the smuggled load."
However, the vehicle was specially adapted to conceal the skin of the rear trailer door, which led to "90 packages each containing 1kg of cocaine, with a street value of around £7.2m."
Konkel's tachograph—a device inside commercial vehicles that records its speed and distance—documented a 16-minute stop that he did not declare during his interview with the NCA, which the agency said it believes was when the drugs were loaded onto his truck.
Although the Polish national initially denied knowing anything about the cocaine packages, he eventually pleaded guilty to drug smuggling, confessing that he had done so for a payment of €4,500 (about $5,200).
Konkel, 40, was sentenced to 3 years and six months in prison, the NCA confirmed.
"Organized crime groups use corrupt drivers like Konkel to move Class A drugs, often hidden on entirely legitimate loads such as this," NCA operations manager Paul Orchard said in the press release. "The detection and investigation have removed a significant amount of cocaine whose profits are lost to the crime group behind the smuggling attempt, and with Konkel, they've lost an important enabler."
The National Crime Agency
Meanwhile, Border Force Assistant Director Jason Thorn emphasized how drug traffickers smuggling illegal substances into the U.K. have upended local communities.
"These drugs destroy lives and inflict misery on our communities," he added in the announcement. "We continue to work around the clock to relentlessly pursue criminality, protect our borders and keep these dangerous drugs off our streets."
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