Coventry gang members behind £1.6m drug operation
Nine men were today jailed for over 70 years for their involvement in a £1.6m drug operation from the Netherlands. Who were they?
CCTV: addicts run to Class A dealer like 'ice-cream van'
West Midlands Police has released a video of tens of addicts flocking after drug dealer car's in Birmingham
Man caught with cocaine in 'secret suitcase' jailed
A man who was caught trying to smuggle half a million pounds worth of cocaine into the UK has been jailed for six and a half years.
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Cannabis, cocaine and MDMA found in Brownhills raid
Thirty officers were involved in the raid which uncovered an enormous drug haul in Brownhills.
Experts continue to chemically analyse the substances. Conservative estimates put the drugs value at £10million but purity tests could see the value of the seizure rocket to £30million.
Seizure tally:
• Cannabis x 120 1kg bags
• Cocaine x 5 1kg bricks
• MDMA x 50 1kg bags
Brownhills drug haul 'one of the largest' in force's history
– Detective Sergeant Carl Russell, West Midlands PoliceThis is the largest seizure of drugs I have secured in my 24 year career with West Midlands Police. It is also one of the largest in the force’s 39 year history.
The impact this seizure will have on drug dealing in the region and the UK as a whole cannot be underestimated.
The drugs had almost certainly been packed to order ready for shipping within Britain but possibly even further afield.
Our operation will have a national effect and we are working closely with a range of law enforcement agencies to identify those involved in this crime at whatever level.
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Police uncover huge £30m drug haul in Brownhills
Drugs worth up to £30 million have been seized in what seasoned detectives are describing as the largest hauls in their careers.
Cannabis, cocaine and MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy, weighing almost 200 kilograms were uncovered at a unit on the Maybrook industrial estate in Brownhills as part of an intelligence led policing operation.
Officers swooped on the unit at around 5pm on Wednesday (27 November) but details have only today been released following a full assessment of the haul by forensic investigators, drugs experts and the force’s top detectives.
The drugs were packed into six large cardboard boxes wrapped in cellophane and placed onto five freight pallets for discreet delivery.
When officers opened the boxes they discovered a deep layer of protective foam chips beneath which the drugs were carefully layered.
All the drugs were wrapped in thick plastic bags taped closed with the cannabis vacuum packed to prevent its distinctive pungent aroma from drawing unwanted attention.
When officers swooped on the unit the drugs were being unloaded. The haul was so large that officers needed a forklift truck to load the drugs onto a police flat-bed lorry.
Two men aged 50 and 53 from Brownhills were arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug along with a 51-year-old man from Norton in Stoke-on-Trent. All three who were arrested at the unit have been released on conditional police bail while enquiries continue.
Huge £30million drug haul found in Brownhills
Drugs worth up to £30million have been seized in what seasoned detectives are describing as the largest hauls in their careers.
Cannabis, cocaine and MDMA, more commonly known as Ecstasy, weighing almost 200 kilograms were uncovered at a unit on the Maybrook industrial estate in Brownhills as part of an intelligence led policing operation.
Drug dealer jailed after being caught with £3000 haul
A 31-year-old man from Birmingham has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison, after £3000 worth of drugs were recovered from his car.
Jason Lane, of Hockley Close, was stopped in May by police who were targeting drug dealers across Erdington and Stockland Green.
Lane was pulled over on Gravelly Hill before his vehicle was searched. West Midlands Police found three packages which were later found to contain 143 separate bags of crack cocaine and 139 packages of heroin, valued at £3000 by the force.
He was arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs and later searches of other addresses linked to the unemployed dealer led to the seizure of £2850 in cash from an address in Dudley.
Lane appeared before Birmingham Crown Court last week for a two-day trial before he was convicted on Friday and sentenced to 8 and a half years imprisonment.
Sergeant Mark Walters, from Birmingham North local policing unit, investigated the case. Following the trial, he said: “Drug dealing is one of the biggest concerns raised by the communities of Erdington and Stockland Green at local meetings.”
“We have responded to this and with the force’s proactive Traffic department, we have targeted these areas with the aim of reducing drug offending.”
“Issues such as this directly link to burglary and other crimes, which affect the local community and cause them the most concern.”
Cannabis bust in West Midlands leads to 100 seized plants
More than 100 cannabis plants have been seized by police during a drugs raid in Wordsley, West Midlands, this morning.
Officers from the Dudley Community Action and Proactive Team forced entry to an industrial unit opposite the well known Glass Cone Works at 11am.
Once inside the unit, officers found several rooms of cannabis plants at various stages of growth. A large quantity of cannabis was also found in a 'drying out' room.
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'Coventry gang would attack people over minor disputes'
Police: 'Coventry gang ruled with fear'
– Superintendent Claire Bell, Coventry PoliceThis gang has impacted upon the whole of Coventry over a number of years; they ruled the community through fear and intimidation and rarely would a victim come forward and give evidence against them.
Jones, in particular, was known to carry out indiscriminate attacks after minor disputes with local people and also try to settle scores with extreme violence.
We knew that we could not convict the gang through a victim’s evidence but that it would have to be based on intelligence instead.
Coventry gang members behind £1.6m drug operation
Nine men were today jailed for over 70 years for their involvement in a £1.6m drug operation from the Netherlands. Who were they?
Read the full storyCoventry drug gang jailed for £1.6m cocaine operation
Ringleaders of a Coventry drug gang have today been sentenced to more than 70 years for their involvement in importing and dealing cocaine.
A total of nine men have been jailed for importing £1.6million worth of cocaine from the Netherlands, on eight separate occasions.
A police operation was launched in June 2012 with a dedicated team of eight officers who monitored the lorry travelling from Holland via the Channel Tunnel into the UK and then up to the Midlands.