A Nottinghamshire gang which used secret compartments in cars to move drugs and cash around the UK has been dismantled by detectives.
The group was caught using the secret compartments in a sting targeting networks linked to a suspected international trafficker.
Robert Dawes, who is originally from Sutton-in-Ashfield in Notts, is currently awaiting trial in France after 1.3 tonnes of cocaine was found in suitcases at Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2013.
The East Midlands Special Operations Unit and the National Crime Agency have been investigating crime groups linked to Dawes.
Throughout the entire operations investigations, police have seized 13kg of heroin, 168 kg of cocaine, 354kg of amphetamines, 12kg of MDMA, and more than £200,000 in cash from different groups.
Enquiries into the latest gang began in January 2014 when Notts Police reported Christopher Turton, 32, formerly of Squires Lane in Kings Clipstone, and Dale Wright, 42, formerly of Orchard Street in Mansfield, to EMSOU.
During the next eight months detectives found cocaine, amphetamines and cash being moved around the East Midlands.
Detective Inspector Andy Jones of EMSOU said: “We left the group little option but to plead guilty at the first opportunity – something most of them did.
“I cannot emphasise enough that the street value of the seized drugs is exponentially more than what we have valued them at in the prosecution case.
“They were without doubt destined to cause great harm to our communities.”
The drugs and money were also being transported north to Manchester, through to Scotland, south to Warwickshire and Birmingham and on to Milton Keynes, Banbury and London.
William Hollingsworth-Marriott, 21, formerly of Ash Grove in Skegby, was found responsible of providing the unregistered mobile phones and phone credit for the gang to communicate.
Turton and Robert Durant, 52, formerly of Jephson Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, arranged for a number of vehicles to be adapted so that secret compartments were only detectable by x-ray.
When Lee Krokoszynski, 34, formerly of Second Avenue in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, travelled to Portugal in July 2014, EMSOU officers notified the NCA.
The NCA then teamed up with the Portugese authorities which resulted in Krokoszynski’s arrest.
They identified a handover of 167kg of cocaine, worth in excess of £7 million, smuggled on board a yacht called the Gloria of Grenada, which had sailed from South America.
The following month more than 358kg of amphetamines, worth in excess of £750,000, was seized from a vehicle in Nottinghamshire and from a storage facility in Rugby, Warwickshire.
The gang members sentenced on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 September
- Christopher Turton, aged 32, formerly of Squires Lane in Kings Clipstone, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property, conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs: jailed for 10 years.
- Dale Wright, aged 42, formerly of Orchard Street in Mansfield, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs: jailed for six years and eight months.
- Daryl Ballantine, aged 53, formerly of Taylor Crescent in Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs: jailed for six years.
- Robert Durant, aged 52, formerly of Jephson Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property: four years and two month sentence.
- William Hollingsworth-Marriott, aged 21, formerly of Ash Grove in Skegby, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property, conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and the transfer of criminal property: two years and eight month sentence.
- Stephen Ryan, aged 58, formerly of Alma Road in Banbury, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs: nine year sentence.
- Jaime Walls, aged 39, formerly of Braunston Road in Daventry, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs: jailed for four years.
- Baber Khan, aged 36, formerly of Admiral Walk in Carlton Gate, London, found guilty after a trial of being concerned in a money laundering arrangement: a year-and-a-half in jail.
- Ali Mendley, aged 31, of Middleton Crescent in Beeston, pleaded guilty to being concerned in a money laundering arrangement: 12 months jail term suspended for 18 months and must complete 180 hours of unpaid work.
- Kenneth Barnes, aged 64, of Town Street in Pinxton, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class B drugs and supplying Class A drugs: two-year jail term suspended for 12 months.
- Rachel Johns, aged 40, of High Street in Braunston, Daventry, pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property: Six-month jail term suspended for 12 months and must complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
- Lance Jeffrey, aged 30, of Anslow Avenue in Lenton Abbey, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class B drugs: six-month jail term suspended for 12 months and must complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
- Jared Kelly, aged 32, of Cowdrey Gardens in Arnold, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and being concerned in the supply Class B drugs: six-month jail term suspended for 12 months and must complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
- Hiva Mahmoudi, aged 29, of Kilmaurs Street in Glasgow, found guilty of being concerned in a money laundering arrangement: to be sentenced on 11 November 2016.
- Fateh Azizi, aged 39, of Kilmaurs Street in Glasgow, found guilty of being concerned in a money laundering arrangement: to be sentenced on 11 November 2016.
Daniel Yeboah, aged 34, formerly of Warton Avenue in St Ann’s, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer criminal property and being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs.
In November 2015 at Stafford Crown Court, he was sentenced to 86 months and 42 months respectively to run concurrently.
In May 2016, he also pleaded guilty to a further charge of possession of an SA 80 assault rifle and was sentenced to a further 60 months to run concurrently with his existing sentence, which totals seven years and two months in jail.
In September 2015, at a Portuguese court, Lee Krokoszynski, aged 34, formerly of Second Avenue in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, and Roy Livings, a 64-year-old British national living in South America, were jailed for eight years and ten years respectively.
This dismantling has obstructed a significant drugs route into the country
Detective Inspector Andy Jones of EMSOU said: “Turton and Wright were pivotal in this network, organising and arranging the supply of drugs and the transfer of huge amounts of cash on behalf of an international organised crime group.
“These sentences and the dismantling of this criminal enterprise has not only put a stop to a major drugs supply based out of the East Midlands, it has also obstructed a significant drugs route into the country from overseas.
“We continue to work with the NCA on this matter, with further investigations ongoing and trials pending in mainland Europe.”
NCA Regional Commander for the Midlands Rob Hickinbottom said: “Collaborative working between the NCA and law enforcement agencies overseas led to the arrest in Spain of Robert Dawes who we believe is a major international drug trafficker.
“Dawes was extradited to France in connection with the seizure of 1.3 tonnes of cocaine hidden in suitcases on an Air France flight and we are continuing to support the French authorities ahead of his trial.
“We have protected communities here by successfully targeting his criminal associates in the UK involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.
“By working closely with EMSOU this crime group has been dismantled along with another group we dealt with as part of a separate investigation.”
