Gary Ross, 36, of Woodbourne Road in Douglas, was jailed for three years and 10 months at Douglas Courthouse after pleading guilty to two charges of producing cannabis, as well as possession and attempting to possess and supply the drug.[1] Customs staff intercepted a parcel from the United States at a sorting office on 5 May and found 3.96lb (1.8kg) of cannabis inside, which the authorities valued at £37,268.[1] The parcel was addressed to a house on Woodbourne Road in Douglas.[2] Isle of Man Today gives the intercepted haul as 1,863.4g of cannabis.[2] A customs officer dressed as a courier driver then delivered a dummy package to the address, and Ross was arrested in the back lane alongside co-accused Rosemary Burgess.[2] The BBC reports that a dummy package was delivered by an undercover officer to Ross and another person in Douglas before both were arrested.[1]

A search of Ross’s home after his arrest uncovered a further 0.05oz (6.1g) of cannabis, which he claimed was for personal use.[1] Ross was carrying £1,270 in cash when arrested, and the court made a confiscation order for that sum, directing £500 of it to Victim Support.[2] In a second incident, police searching Burgess’s home on Old Laxey Hill in Laxey on 2 October found 1,578.9g of herbal cannabis, valued at £31,578, in two packages in a holdall and a third in a JD Sports bag.[2] The BBC gives the total for the packages in the Laxey incident as £31,178, and says it happened while Ross was on police bail.[1] Forensic tests found Ross’s fingerprints on various layers of the packaging.[2]

Ross’s defence advocate, Peter Taylor, said he was at the lower end of the trafficking organisation, was addicted to cannabis and had taken a calculated risk to clear his drug debts.[2] Deemster Graeme Cook told Ross he would serve half of the 46-month sentence before release on licence.[2] The BBC reports that Cook said the second offence, committed while Ross was on police bail, meant he would receive consecutive sentences.[1] The BBC also reports that Ross’s initial not guilty plea was rejected and Cook told him he “didn’t believe a word” he was saying.[1]

Co-accused Rosemary Ellen Burgess, 22, was jailed for eight years in February 2024 for her role in the offences and for being concerned in trafficking cocaine to the island.[2]