Gang tried to sneak drug stash through Portsmouth
Drugs smugglers who tried to ferry narcotics into the country through Portsmouth have been found guilty.
The organised gang, operating out of the West Midlands used a furniture company as a drugs front, shipping in nearly two tonnes of cocaine, heroin and ketamine. Drugs involved were worth at least £135m, according to West Midlands Police.
They have now been sentenced. Court heard Jonathan Arnold, 29, of Cremorne Road, Sutton Coldfield, was the ringleader–enjoyingalifeofluxury luxury on the back of his drugs importation empire. This included trips to Dubai where he would film himself driving a Ferrari, court heard.
The gang would use dummy loads of furniture to hide packagesofdrugsinlorriesand vans. Some shipments were concealed in hidden compartments.
Police officers from the West Midlands, Staffordshire,
Warwickshire and West Mercia forces worked with the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU)tothwartthegang’soperations. In January last year, one of the network’s couriers made a drug run to Europe in a Real Estate Removals van.
The vehicle was stopped and searched by French Customs’ officers, who discovered 63 blocks of cocaine weighing 71kg and 99 bags of ketamine weighing 101kg.
The gang then attempted to bring in 1,477kg of cocaine, with a street value of around £118m,intoPortsmouth.Dutch police seized the shipment in April 2022.
Connor Fletcher, 25, of Bridgnorth Road, Wolverhampton, travelled to a town near Amsterdam in June 2022 as a courier. He returned with 60kg of cocaine hidden in two secretcompartmentsbuiltinto the floor of the lorry.
Police had linked Fletcher to the gang, with the Border Force detaining him. Arnold admitted to four charges of conspiracy to import and supply drugs – cocaine, heroin and ketamine. Fletcher was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine after driving into Dover from Calais.
James Jenkins, 25, of Lichfield Street, Tamworth, supervised the operation and was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, but not guilty of importing cocaine. Humayan Sadiq, 43, of Manchester, planned to move the cocaine – due to be brought into Portsmouth from Colombia via Holland. He was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine.