Gang’s £2m of cannabis was disguised as dog biscuits

FOUR ageing drug smugglers who imported over £2million of cannabis into the UK disguised as dog and cat biscuits have been jailed for a combined 28 years.

Brothers Kevin, 57, and John Downes, 58, Brian Chapman, 64, and Thomas Abrahams, 73, arranged for 747kg of cannabis resin to be delivered to a remote unit at Wallend Farm on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

The drugs were dropped off there on September 30, 2016 in cardboard boxes that had been shipped from Guadarrama, in Spain, via couriers DHL who were unaware of the cargo, the Old Bailey heard.

A fictional company, ‘Levante European’, was set up as a smokescreen to accept the consignment, stuffed with packets of pet food to mask the smell. Officers from the National Crime Agency had the farm under surveillance, watching as the consignment was unloaded.

Jailing the four, Judge Rebecca Poulet QC said: ‘Several features of the case suggest a sophisticated, well-thought-out plan.’