A sniffer dog discovered 51,500 ecstasy tablets and 104 kilograms of cannabis resin on the lorry driven by Leunis Rentier, 47, when he was stopped in Devon.

The drugs were found during security checks for a Golden Jubilee visit by the Queen, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Rentier was stopped on the A30 between Exeter and Okehampton in May 2002.

Smuggling operation

Rentier, from Schroonhoven, Holland, was carrying a cargo of cosmetics and claimed he had no knowledge of the drugs.

Judge John Neligan said: "You were an integral part of a smuggling operation, being the driver of the lorry which brought drugs into this country.

"If your lorry had not been stopped, this dangerous and potentially lethal cargo would have found its way on to the streets of the South West."