A shipment of Skims underwear and apparel traveling through the United Kingdom became the center of a major international drug trafficking case after authorities discovered millions of dollars worth of cocaine hidden inside a modified cargo trailer.
USA Today reports that British officials say the operation unraveled during a routine inspection at the Port of Harwich in Essex, where Border Force officers stopped a truck arriving from the Netherlands in September 2025. Inside the vehicle were 28 pallets of merchandise tied to Kim Kardashian’s shapewear and clothing brand, Skims. The products themselves were legitimate, investigators said. The alleged criminal activity was concealed elsewhere.
According to the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA), officers became suspicious after X-ray scans revealed unusual structural inconsistencies inside the rear doors of the trailer. A deeper search uncovered a hidden compartment packed with 90 individually wrapped bundles of cocaine, each weighing roughly two pounds.
Skims Denies Any Involvement
Authorities estimate the drugs carried a street value of approximately 7.2 million euros, or about $8.4 million USD. Further, the driver, identified as 40-year-old Jakub Jan Konkel of northern Poland, was later convicted in connection with the smuggling scheme. Court proceedings revealed investigators uncovered GPS and travel data pointing to an undocumented 16-minute stop made during the trip, a detail prosecutors argued played a key role in how the drugs were loaded into the vehicle.
Officials believe the cocaine was inserted into the trailer during that brief stop with the coordination of an organized trafficking network operating across European freight routes.
Konkel initially denied involvement in the operation before later admitting he had agreed to transport the narcotics for payment. Authorities said he was promised 4,500 euros in exchange for moving the shipment across borders. A judge at Chelmsford Crown Court ultimately sentenced him to 13 years and six months in prison.
Skims issued a statement to USA Today regarding the controversy: "SKIMS is aware of the recent news involving a shipment with our products. We want to be absolutely clear: SKIMS had no knowledge whatsoever about this criminal activity. We had no connection to the smuggling operation, the driver, or the truck.”
