London: An Indian-origin man and his accomplice have been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment each after pleading guilty to conspiracy to smuggle banned drugs into Britain after an investigation led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Sundeep Singh Rai, 37, and accomplice Billy Hayre, 43, belonged to an organised crime group (OCG) responsible for 30 kilos of cocaine and 30 kilos of amphetamine being smuggled to the UK on a cargo plane from Mexico.
The duo initially denied charges of conspiracy to supply class A banned drugs, but changed their pleas to guilty just before a trial was due to start at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this year and were sentenced for the crimes at the same court on Friday.
“Rai and Hayre were behind a sophisticated attempt to smuggle class A drugs from Mexico onto the streets of the UK,” said NCA Operations Manager Chris Duplock.
“I have no doubt that had we not stopped them, they would have used this route repeatedly to bring in more drugs. Working with partners at home and abroad, we will do all we can to disrupt the supply of class A drugs which are inextricably linked to gang violence and real suffering across UK communities,” he said.
NCA investigators were tracking Rai and Hayre’s smuggling plans and provided intelligence to partners in the Border Force, who found the drugs after the flight landed at Heathrow Airport in May last year.
The haul of class A was removed and seized and the investigators allowed the empty consignment to run and monitored it.
They watched as more than a week later, in June 2022, it was collected from a cargo holding area by a white Mercedes van and driven to the Greet Green Industrial Estate in West Bromwich in the West Midlands region of England. The NCA watched as Rai and Hayre met the Mercedes van and unloaded the shipment into an industrial unit.
The day after, the pair who both worked as housing officers at Sandwell Council took delivery of another drugs shipment. The men met a heavy goods vehicle back at the industrial estate carrying a cover-load of bananas. As the pair began unloading it, NCA officers supported by West Midlands Police officers, arrested them.
More than nine kilos of cocaine hidden in a cardboard box was also found in Rai’s car. Around two kilos of methylmethcathinone also known by the street name of Meow Meow was found in the garage of Rai’s home, the NCA said.
A property he rented in Balfour Crescent, Wolverhampton, was also searched where officers found 250 grams of heroin, 700 ecstasy tablets, a cash counting machine and a dealing list.
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