Dismantling of the UK’s Biggest Drug Ring Moving More than 50 Tons of Hard Drugs

Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Unotv y Guardian

                   Dismantled: the largest drug traffic ever discovered in the United Kingdom

19 people were arrested in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as part of an investigation into the largest drug trafficking ring  discovered on British soil, for a total value of several billion pounds , authorities said. Among those arrested are 13 men between 24 and 59 years of age, whose identities and nationalities were not disclosed.

They are suspected of belonging to the British subsidiary of an international criminal group that imported from Holland more than 50 tons of heroin , cocaine and cannabis estimated at several billion pounds ( UKs $$) through "Dutch and British screen companies," the National Fighting Agency reported. against British Crime (NCA) in a statement.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the men, aged between 24 and 59, were held in dawn raids on Tuesday in London, Manchester, Stockport, St Helens, Warrington, Bolton, Dewsbury and Leeds.

The raids follow an 18-month NCA investigation tracking drugs allegedly smuggled into the country hidden in lorries carrying vegetables and juice from the Netherlands.

Investigators intercepted 351kg of cocaine, 92kg of heroin, 250kg of cannabis and 1,850kg of hashish with a total street value of more than £38m in three consignments in September 2018.

Subsequent inquiries led them to believe that 50 tonnes of drugs worth billions of pounds were imported on numerous occasions between February 2017 and October 2018.

Jayne Lloyd, the NCA’s regional head of investigations, said: “We suspect these men were involved in an industrial-scale operation – the biggest ever uncovered in the UK – bringing in tonnes of deadly drugs that were distributed to crime groups throughout the country.

“By working closely with partners here and overseas, in particular the Dutch national police, we believe we have dismantled a well-established drug supply route.”

As part of the same investigation, four men and two women from the Netherlands were arrested in April this year and are awaiting extradition to the UK.

This investigation is linked to an earlier NCA operation in which 13 people were jailed after the seizure of more than 100kg of heroin in 2015.

In the framework of the same investigation, four men and two women were arrested in the Netherlands in April waiting to be extradited to the United Kingdom.

According to the NCA, between February 2017 and October 2018 this network imported Thousands of Kilos of Cocaine, Heroin, Cannabis and Hashish hidden in shipments of vegetables and juices transported through the British ports.