Gang jailed after one of the UK's largest heroin and cocaine seizures

Police raided a farm in North Wales and found class A drugs with a street value of £64m

A gang whose "slick" drug operation ended in one the UK's largest seizures of heroin and cocaine has been jailed.

The class A drugs were smuggled through the Channel Tunnel before being taken to a farm in North Wales that was used as a distribution centre.

Cocaine and heroin with an estimated street value of £64m was recovered in a police raid on the farm, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The four men involved in the gang were sentenced at Chester Crown Court.

Guy Remington, 48, from Hereford, Luke Hirst, 37, of Deeside, Thomas Smith, 41, from Liverpool and Morgan Towner, 47, of Leatherhead, Surrey, all pleaded guilty to a range of offences and were jailed for a combined total of 55 years.

Police in the north-west of England estimate two tonnes of drugs with a potential street value of more than £250m were imported by the gang.

The drugs were imported while hidden in secret compartments

The gang's operation between May and September 2023 saw Remington make nine trips to Europe via the Eurotunnel, through which he smuggled the drugs back in a trailer with secret compartments, the CPS said.

From there, they were taken to Hirst's farm at Tirlas Goch in Deeside, where they were repackaged to be distributed across the UK.

Senior crown prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams said the operation was "possibly the last thing that you could imagine happening at a farm in rural North Wales"

Guy Remington and Thomas Smith were jailed for 18 years

But the rural location "provided privacy for the group to unload the huge quantities of heroin and cocaine", and was connected to the nearby A55 and motorway network to allow the drugs to be easily distributed across the country, she added.

Smith, a drug dealer based in Liverpool, arranged to move the drugs to his own network of supplier, while Towner used a van with hidden compartments to take the drugs to the south of England.

Police raided the farm in September and arrested Remington and Hirst, with officers later arresting Smith at his home in Liverpool and Towner at an address in Surrey.

Luke Hirst and Morgan Towner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs

Remington was sentenced to 18 years in jail for conspiracy to import and supply class A drugs, while Smith was also given 18 years for conspiracy to supply, and for possession with intent to supply MDMA and possession of cannabis.

Hirst was jailed for 12 years, and Towner for 7 years, both for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.