Gang jailed for £1bn cocaine haul hidden in frozen chicken boxes

(Left to right) Stephen Rayner, Cherie-Anne Rayner and Steven Gibson were each jailed for more than 10 years

Six members of a gang which smuggled £1.59bn of cocaine in boxes of frozen chicken have been jailed.

The 15-tonne haul was described by prosecutors as the largest ever drugs operation in England and Wales.

Their criminal network imported high-purity cocaine from a Mexican cartel, repackaged it and sold it on to dealers around the UK, prosecutors said.

At Sheffield Crown Court, those involved were jailed for between two and 20 years.

A trial previously heard "vast" shipments of the drug were unpacked at a warehouse in Redditch, near Birmingham, and later distributed, with the group working for a drugs kingpin under the alias of Fendi.

At Sheffield Crown Court, (left to right) Darren Hunter, Liam Harrington and Megan Budden were also jailed

"Blocks and blocks and blocks" of the drug, as well as a note referring to the Nueva Generacion Cartel, were found in Cherie-Anne Rayner and partner Liam Harrington's home in Flaxton Street in Beeston, Leeds, on 10 September 2022.

A locked room in the house contained cocaine and crystal methamphetamine worth about £19m in total, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Cocaine found in the Flaxton Street flat bore the name of a Mexican cartel

A further 57kg of cocaine worth £5.8m was found stashed at Megan Budden's flat in The Crescent, Dewsbury.

Stephen Rayner, Cherie-Anne's brother, oversaw the management of the operation, the CPS said, which used the cover of a food delivery company to smuggle and distribute drugs.

He was described in court as a "trusted lieutenant" to Fendi.

Steven Gibson and Darren Hunter acted as couriers, prosecutors said, with Gibson driving drugs north from England to Scotland on 10 occasions.

Det Ch Supt Carl Galvin, of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, pictured with blocks of drugs seized by police

The drugs were hidden in pallets of frozen chicken and later distributed around the UK

A total of 318 pallets of chicken were imported between March and December 2022, West Yorkshire Police said.

A legitimate Dutch haulage company was used to deliver the drugs from overseas unaware of what was hidden within the consignments, the force added.

Cherie-Anne Rayner, Harrington and Budden admitted charges during the third week of their trial, with other defendants offering guilty pleas at earlier opportunities.

Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside said: "These offenders were involved in a sophisticated criminal operation to import and distribute an extortionate amount of Class A drugs into the UK - the largest case the CPS has ever prosecuted.

"We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings to recover the money they made from their criminal activity."

• Stephen Rayner, 31, of Scargill Grange, Leeds, was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and jailed for 20 years

• Cherie-Anne Rayner, 30, was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced to 15 years

• Liam Harrington, 39, was convicted of participating in the activities of an organised crime group and converting criminal property and sentenced to three years in prison

• Megan Budden, 23, was convicted of participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group and jailed for two years

• Steven Gibson, 41, of Belsyde Avenue, Glasgow, was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced to 12 years in prison

• Darren Hunter, 30, of Queenslie Street, Glasgow, was convicted of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A and jailed for six years