The road to Hull is paved with dim-witted criminals, court hears

The two men had planned to drive from London to Hull to collect the 30-kilo consignment, which had been smuggled from Holland.

But the plan had to be changed when they realised they could not find the East Yorkshire city, which has a population of over 250,000.

In the end, the drugs were diverted to Crewe, where police were waiting to pounce and arrest them.

Details of the shambolic drug deal emerged today as two participants in the wider plot challenged their sentences at the Court of Appeal.

Barrister Jon Swain said geographically challenged Londoners, Emra Kosmaz and Bilal Bildik, had been set to go to Hull in September 2014.

However, as they reached north London and began to fumble with a satnav system, they realised the plan was not going to go smoothly.

‘They didn’t even know where Hull was,’ he told three top judges.

‘It seems remarkable, given the amount of drugs involved, that it was so shambolic.’

The driver carrying the drugs did not want to wait and drove on to Crewe, where a number of criminals were arrested conducting a handover.

Kosmaz was ultimately jailed for 11 years and Bildik for 13 years for conspiracy to supply heroin.

In the appeal, Arif Bullici, 56, of London, had his 25-year term cut to 21 years, but Birmingham man Diyar Khalid’s 13-year sentence was upheld.