A BERKSHIRE man is among members of an organised drugs gang jailed for more than 154 years after importing millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK.
Sanpreet Dhaliwal from Slough.
Kent Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) launched an investigation after German customs officials found packages containing more than 100KG of Class A and B drugs destined for Swanley in Kent.
Detectives watched the boxes being delivered to an industrial unit in New Barn Road in Swanley where one member of the gang – Stevie Joyce from Swanley – took possession of the boxes and was arrested.
His arrest led to the identification of the rest of the crime group who were importing millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK on a weekly basis.
By April 2014 the gang had rented a new industrial unit in Eton in Berkshire, and NCA officers observed the delivery of another set of packages, this time containing 55 kilos of Heroin, that was purported to be car parts being delivered from Belgium.
The enormous scale of the operation was revealed when members of the gang attempted to distribute the drugs to other crime groups in Liverpool, Manchester and Blackburn.
Forensic tests on the heroin packages seized showed they would have had a likely potential street value of in excess of £6.5 million.
This week (June 17 and 18) the defendants were sentenced to a total of 154 years and four months behind bars at Maidstone Crown Court.
Sanpreet Dhaliwal, 30, of Woodland Avenue in Slough, pleaded guilty to importing heroin and possession with intent to supply cannabis and was sentenced to 7 years and 4 months in prison.
The other men convicted were:
Roy James, 56, from Dudley Avenue in Westgate-on-Sea, was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply heroin, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import heroin and conspiracy to import cannabis. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Thomas Atkins, 31, from Chave Road in Dartford, was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import heroin and conspiracy to import cannabis. He was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months.
Lee Selves, 29, from Wellcome Avenue in Dartford, was found guilty of conspiring to import heroin. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Stevie Joyce, 35, from New Barn Road in Swanley, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import heroin and conspiracy to import cannabis. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Nicholas Parker 34, of Wellcome Avenue in Dartford, was convicted of conspiring to import heroin. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Sonny Selves, 24, from Hillhouse Road in Stone, was convicted of conspiring to import heroin. He was sentenced to 16 years and 6 months.
Julian Bridgen, 50, from Arkwright Road in Wellingborough, was convicted of conspiracy to import heroin. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Stephen Hall, 53, from The Green in Romney Marsh, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 10 offences of conspiracy to supply and conspiracy to import heroin, cocaine and cannabis. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Detective Superintendent Mark Hall from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “The top tier of this organised crime group had gone to extensive lengths to hide their involvement and to distance themselves from this criminality through the use of false names, false companies and the use of a network of couriers to distribute the controlled drugs.
“As a result they made significant profits over a number of years without detection.
“The value of drugs imported by this group into Swanley and Eton alone are estimated to run to several million pounds and the investigation team has worked tirelessly to ensure that not only are the people responsible brought to justice but that the profits they have made from this criminality are identified and confiscated.”