Gang hid £7bn of drugs in garlic and onion cargo

Gang ringleader Paul Green was jailed for 32 years

A gang which smuggled up to £7bn worth of drugs into the UK from the continent over two-a-half years have been jailed.

It is believed to be the largest drug smuggling operation ever detected in the UK, Manchester Crown Court has heard.

They hid heroin, cocaine and cannabis in cargoes of strong-smelling onion, garlic and ginger.

Ringleader Paul Green, 59, known as The Big Fella, was jailed for 32 years after being convicted of conspiracy to import drugs.

Green, of Widnes, Cheshire, was also convicted of fraud by false representation.

His "right-hand man", Steven Martin, 53, of Chorley Old Road, Bolton, Greater Manchester, who organised the finances, was imprisoned for 28 years.

The court heard Green was the point of contact for numerous organised criminal groups (OCGs) who paid a fee to ship heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis into the UK.

The gang used front companies and warehouses in the Netherlands and the north of England. Green changed his name twice by deed poll.

Among the OCG customers was Merseyside mob enforcer John Kinsella, 53, who was shot dead by a hitman in May 2018 as he walked his dogs with his pregnant partner.

The drugs were smuggled into the UK by innocent haulage firms

The smuggling operation between March 2016 and September 2018 carried on despite seizures or arrests.

Prosecutor Andrew Thomas said: "As soon as one company became exposed, they would switch to another one."

Only six seizures of drugs were made but the National Crime Agency (NCA) said 240 consignments took place with up to four shipments per week.

'Unprecedented scale'

Sentencing Judge Paul Lawton told gang members: "Your main purpose was the importation of controlled drugs on an international, and hitherto unprecedented, scale with a value of at least £2bn and potentially as high as £7bn."

Muhammad Ovais, 46, of Bournelea Avenue, Burnage, Manchester, who was in charge of distributing drugs to OCG customers, was sentenced to 27 years in jail.

Steven Martin was imprisoned for 28 years

Among others sentenced for drugs importation conspiracy charges were fluent Dutch speaker Russell Leonard, 48, of Grosmont Road, Kirkby, Liverpool, who was jailed for 24 years; and Dutch OCG bosses Johannes Vesters, 54, and Barbara Rijnbout, 53, both of Utrecht, who received prison terms of 20 years and 18 years respectively.