Drug-smuggler, 36, who hid £18million of cocaine inside pallets of frozen chicken is jailed for nine years
- Edward Durnion, 36, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, admitted supplying cocaine
A drug smuggler has been jailed for nine years after trying to hide £18million worth of cocaine inside pallets of frozen chicken.
Edward Durnion, 36, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, was charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine, which he admitted at Stafford Crown Court.
He was sentenced today to nine years in prison after he was caught trying to transport a huge shipment of the class-A drug which had been delivered to a frozen food wholesaler in north London.
Police intercepted the warehouse delivery the day before on March 13 and replaced the 192 kilos of seized cocaine with books.
Edward Durnion, 36, (pictured) of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, was charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine
The seized cocaine which was worth £5.5million wholesale but valued at a whopping £18million at street level
Durnion was spotted arriving at the business park in a van before driving to a storage unit in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, where he discovered the drugs were missing.
He was arrested by officers working with the Metropolitan Police specialist crime north team, who had been tracking his movements.
A court heard West Midlands Police’s regional organised crime unit made the find as they followed up a previous consignment of drugs found last November.
The manager told them a consignment from the same supplier had arrived that morning and a search of the pallet revealed cocaine packed in boxes underneath the frozen chicken.
Police intercepted the warehouse delivery the day before on March 13 and replaced the 192 kilos of seized cocaine with books
Detective Inspector Dave Simpson, of West Midlands Police, said: ‘192 kilos of cocaine has an estimated wholesale value of £5.5m and a potential street value of £18m, so this was a significant seizure which will have caused considerable disruption to that particular chain of supply.
‘This is part of our ongoing work to tackle organised criminal activity including drugs networks across the West Midlands and beyond.
‘We’re focused on those thought to be involved in the highest levels of organised crime across our region.
‘It sends out a clear warning to others intent on supplying Class A drugs – we simply won’t tolerate it.’
Source: Read Full Article
