Prison drug smuggling ring smashed by police
POLICE have smashed an international crime ring which smuggled drugs from Spain into Forest Bank prison.
The ‘well-oiled plan’ saw cannabis flown into the Salford jail using a drone.
The gang were led by serving inmate Darren Dunn, who ran the elaborate operation from his cell inside Forest Bank. Dunn, 35, coordinated five other crooks using an iPhone.
Their plot was uncovered after two members of the gang were stopped by police as they arrived back on the ferry at Portsmouth. When their car was searched, thousands of pounds worth of cannabis was found hidden in the boot and tucked into a spare wheel. Now Dunn has been jailed for 10 years.
Dunn, of no fixed abode, earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey articles into prison, conspiracy to import class B drugs and money laundering.
His accomplice, Steven Roberts, 37, was described by prosecutors as the ‘man on the ground.’
He flew to Barcelona on three occasions in October, November and December 2016, after ordering the drugs. After Roberts purchased them in the Catalan city, Anthony Redmond, 59, and Michael Madden, 58, were responsible for transporting it back to the UK, the court heard.
Redmond, of Agecroft Road, Swinton, and Madden, of Beechfield Road, Swinton, were arrested and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import class B drugs.
Redmond was jailed for 20 months and Madden was sentenced to 11 months.
Around the same time, in late 2016, a drone was being used to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into Forest Bank. Police saw Daniel White, 31, and Sean Tierney parking their car in Drinkwater Park and then assembling a drone near the exterior wall of the prison.
On another occasion, as police tried to arrest Tierney, who got away, a bag which he had been seen to wear was recovered.
It contained a drone and two knotted socks, which contained 15 mobile phones, more than £21,000 worth of Spice, more than £2,700 of cannabis and at least £4,000 of steroids.
White, of Camponia Gardens, Salford, was jailed for three years and ten months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to convey articles into prison.
Tierney, 25, of Littleton Road, Salford, was sentenced to 28 months in prison previously after admitting possession with intent to supply class B drugs.
The court heard that Dunn introduced Roberts to Christopher Paul.
Roberts, of Trenam Place, Salford, and Paul, 29, of Barkerhouse Road, Nelson, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and supply class B drugs. They have both been jailed for seven years and four months.