TWO men who attempted to smuggle nearly half-a-million pounds worth of cocaine hidden in pot plants have been jailed for a total of 32 years.

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, David Notley, 52, of Heathcote Grove, Chingford, received 20 years and Iain Palmer, 41, of Valleyside, was given 12 years.

The two men were involved in smuggling £400,000 of cocaine from Nicaragua in plant pots which were headed for a Waltham Abbey company, the court heard.

Customs officers at the border inspection of Tilbury Docks in Essex found large quantities of the drug concealed inside an estimated 120 pot plants during a search of a container which arrived from Nicaragua on March 11 last year.

Port officials removed the drug then re-packed the soil and gravel into the pots prior to their delivery at Petals Plants in Galley Hill, Waltham Abbey, the hearing heard.

Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) had placed hidden microphones inside unit 13 at the site, and the court heard recordings of workers swapping angry exchanges while they frantically searched the pot plants for the cocaine on the afternoon of March 15.

The men were looking at codes to match up with plants containing cocaine and Notley was interpreted to be the man in charge because he was doing most of the talking and was getting very frustrated because he couldn’t find the cocaine.

Jurors heard that Notley was then immediately arrested outside the warehouse and had a mobile phone and paper work seized which linked him to the delivery.

Matthew Farmer, prosecuting, said bank statements were also recovered which showed there had been no income at the company from the sale of pot plants, and that receipts from a shipping company were found which showed there had been several other similar deliveries to Petal Plants from Nicaragua throughout 2007.

He added that further investigations revealed that the company listed in Nicaragua did not exist.

Notley was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle the Class A drug. Palmer admitted the offence at an earlier hearing.