Two men jailed after drugs found in animal feed at Somerset farm

Bhardwaj (l) and Tripathi (r) were sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday

Two men who imported drugs that accidently ended up in food meant for farm animals have been jailed.

A shipping container of feed was found to contain 189kgs of cocaine, with a street value of more than £15m, when it was delivered to a farm near Bridgwater in Somerset in April 2022.

A wider investigation located tens of millions of pounds worth of drugs.

Anand Tripathi, 62, of Middlesex and Varun Bhardwaj, 39, of Hounslow, were sentenced to 15 and 19 years.

The farmer, who does not want to be named, described the incident to police as "something out of a movie".

Det Ch Insp Paul Fisher said the back of the feed truck the farmer received "contained about 30 tonnes (30,000kgs) of loose soya bean curdle", which he described as similar to dried dog food pellets.

"On top you've got a dozen big bags and each of those bags had between 12 and 14 of these kilo blocks."

He explained the animal feed had come from Colombia, where the cocaine was also grown, "so they'd been married up together".

"The mistake at the criminal end meant that rather than the drugs being removed and the feed arriving, the feed and the drugs [arrived] and the farmer got more than he bargained for," he added.

The investigation began after a farmer rang 999 when he found cocaine in the food meant for his farm animals

Bhardwaj and Tripathi were jailed at Isleworth Crown Court for three counts of importing cocaine, cannabis and cigarettes into the UK, hidden in shipments of perishable goods.

The farmer's initial report led to a bigger investigation, leading to further shipments of illegal goods being identified.

DCI Fisher, of the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said the investigation uncovered the biggest find of Class A drugs in the South West region on record.

Det Ch Insp Fisher describes the pair as "very serious criminals" whose sentences "reflect the magnitude of their offending"

Tatab Ltd, a customs clearing agent based in Hounslow, headed up by Tripathi, was inextricably linked to the importation and transport of illegal goods, the investigation found.

Police said Bhardwaj, who tried to distance himself from the company, was found to be the operations manager and reported to Tripathi.

Tatab was just one of a number of companies created or run by the pair to try to conceal their illegal activities.

Both defendants had their sentences reduced, from an initial 22 years, by Judge Sarah Paneth, who heard Tripathi was on kidney dialysis and Bhardwaj had a young family.

However, she said they were both "intelligent men" and culpable for the crimes.

Richard Partridge from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "These two men played vital roles in trying to flood UK streets with huge quantities of illegal drugs.

"The cost and damage to lives that drugs cause in our society is incalculable."

He said there were "clearly others involved in the scheme who haven't yet been identified".