TWO men appeared before City Magistrates' Court on Monday after heroin with a street value of £4m was discovered in a car.

The car was brought to a dramatic halt among the Saturday afternoon traffic on the A20 at Sidcup and surrounded by armed police from Kent and Customs officials.

The two men of Turkish origin were arrested and the 40 kilos of the drug were recovered from the car.

Customs officials had been secretly watching the car since it crossed the Channel from France to Dover last Friday.

They followed it to Maidstone where they watched a substance being handed over to another vehicle.

The two cars then continued on their journeys along the M20 and A20 towards London.

It was as the cars reached Sidcup that officials took the decision to move.

But one of the cars , a red Volvo 440, registration number J942 LBJ, evaded capture and sped off.

It was later found abandoned in Grosvenor Road, in Petts Wood, at about 9.20pm the same day.

The two men were arrested and taken to central London where they were charged with the illegal importation of drugs. They appeared in court on Monday where they were released on conditional bail. Customs officials are to appeal against the bail decision.

A third man was arrested on Monday in north London and a fourth, a Slovenian, was also arrested at Heathrow as he tried to leave the country.

A spokesman for Customs and Excise said “No firearms were found during the arrests but there is always a danger when a large amount of drugs is involved that there will be guns.

He added: “Customs officials do not carry guns, so we were grateful for the assistance of armed officers from Kent police.”

If you have any information about the red Volvo, call the Customs confidential free hotline on 0800 595 000.