A judge at Luton Crown Court sentenced two men on Friday 13 March 2015 over a seven-year conspiracy to import more than 28 tonnes of cannabis from the Netherlands.[1][2] John Wright, 66, of Hounslow, received nine years and four months and Steven McDonald, 32, of Chatham, received eight years, and both were banned from travelling outside Britain for ten years after release.[1][2] The pair had admitted conspiring to import a Class B drug at the same court on 16 October 2014.[1][2]
They were caught after Border Force officers at Harwich intercepted about 300 kg of herbal cannabis shipped from the Netherlands disguised as flooring tiles on 24 April 2014.[1][2] Investigators watched the load delivered to an address in Whetstone, north London, the next day, where McDonald signed for it before driving it to garages in Wembley with Wright following; officers arrested them as they began opening the consignment and found another 150 kg in a second garage.[1][2] Searches of their homes recovered dealing ledgers and evidence of bank transfers and frequent trips to the Netherlands, including a rented apartment in Lisse used by Wright.[1][2]
Working with Dutch police, investigators tied about a hundred other importations from three Dutch addresses to two front companies the men ran; one shipment had been stolen at gunpoint by a rival group, forcing both ends to change company names and locations.[1] Detective Inspector Steve Miles said the men smuggled on an industrial scale worth potentially more than £80 million, and the prosecution said the sentences showed such organised crime would not go unpunished.[1][2] The National Crime Agency said investigators were still hunting a third man believed to have rented the Wembley garages under the false name Mark Gamble.[1]
