A MAN has been convicted following the seizure of the UK's largest drugs haul – enough to supply the demand of 8,000 users, according to police.

Abdul Matalib Shammin Rob, 30, of Cavendish Gardens in Ilford, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin at Kingston Crown Court yesterday, following the discovery of £33m worth of the drug in April 2008.

Police uncovering the smuggling operation after they found 13 boxes containing nearly 730lb (330kg) of heroin in the back of a BMW at a motorway service station in Kent.

Rob's conviction follows that of three other men. Patrick Kuster, 37, from the Netherlands, was found guilty of the same offence and was sentenced to 26 years. Kuster supplied the BMW estate in which the haul was found.

Harminder Chana, 32, of east London, was also convicted of conspiracy to supply. Atif Khan, 35, also of east London, pleaded guilty to the charge.

Following the hearing, the Metropolitan Police's Detective Chief Inspector Marion Ryan said: "This is the biggest heroin seizure we know of, by any UK police force.

"Today's result is testimony to how the Met has prevented the serious consequences this conspiracy could have had on people's lives."

Rob has a history of drugs offences, having been sentenced in his absence to six years in a Belgian jail in 2000 as well as serving a custodial sentence in Latchmere House prison, south-west London, in 2005.

Chana, Khan and Rob will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on January 8.