Trio jailed for hiding drugs worth millions in sorbet pallets

John Madden (left), William Morritt (middle), and John Brown (right) were all jailed

Three men have been jailed for hiding drugs with a street value of millions of pounds inside pallets of raspberry sorbet.

About 39kg of cocaine and 18kg of heroin were found at a food warehouse in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire.

The drugs had been stowed away in a lorry travelling through Belgium and the Netherlands before reaching the UK.

John Brown, John Madden and William Morritt were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

Police described the drugs seizure as "the biggest in Nottinghamshire for many years".

The drugs were stashed away in boxes of raspberry sorbet

Brown, 54, and Morritt, 69, were found guilty of conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug.

Brown, of Lawn Avenue, Doncaster, is to serve 15 years in prison and Morritt, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was jailed for 18 years.

Madden, from Knowsley, Merseyside, was convicted of the same offence and also pleaded guilty to two counts of concealing criminal property and one count of possession of criminal property.

The 51-year-old was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Det Insp Mark Adas, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), said: "This complex investigation has resulted in the seizure of a very substantial haul of Class A drugs before they had the chance to reach the streets and cause significant harm.

"Drugs fuel violent crime and other exploitative criminal activities and we will continue to work with our partners to protect our communities, combat such criminality and target those involved."