An Indian-origin man was sent to jail for allegedly conspiring to smuggle banned drugs into Britain.
The man, identified as Sundeep Singh Rai, and his accomplice Billy Hayre were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment each after pleading guilty after an investigation led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
The duo belonged to an organised crime group (OCG) responsible for the smuggling of 30 kilos of cocaine and 30 kilos of amphetamine to the UK on a cargo plane from Mexico.
Both accused initially denied charges of conspiracy to supply class A banned drugs, however, changed their plea to guilty just before the beginning of the trial due to start at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this year. They were sentenced for the crimes at the same court on Friday (August 25).
“Rai and Hayre were behind a sophisticated attempt to smuggle class A drugs from Mexico onto the streets of the UK,” said NCA Operations Manager Chris Duplock.
“I have no doubt that had we not stopped them, they would have used this route repeatedly to bring in more drugs. Working with partners at home and abroad, we will do all we can to disrupt the supply of class A drugs which are inextricably linked to gang violence and real suffering across UK communities,” he said.
The investigators at NCA kept a tab on Rai and Hayre’s smuggling plans and shared intelligence with partners in the Border Force, who found the drugs after the flight landed at Heathrow Airport in May last year.
The haul of class A was removed and seized and the investigators allowed the empty consignment to run and monitored it.
They kept a watch as over a week later in June 2022, it was collected from a cargo holding area by a white Mercedes van and driven to the Greet Green Industrial Estate in West Bromwich in the West Midlands region of England.
The NCA watched as Rai and Hayre met the Mercedes van and unloaded the shipment into an industrial unit.
The day after, the duo took delivery of another drugs shipment.
The men met a heavy goods vehicle back at the industrial estate carrying a cover-load of bananas. As they began unloading it, NCA officers supported by West Midlands Police officers, arrested them.
Over nine kilos of cocaine was also recovered from Rai’s car.
Around two kilos of methylmethcathinone – also known by the street name of Meow Meow – was found in the garage of Rai’s home, the NCA said.
A property he rented in Balfour Crescent, Wolverhampton, was also searched where officers found 250 grams of heroin, 700 ecstasy tablets, a cash counting machine and a dealing list.
(With PTI inputs)
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