Postal workers foil £3.2m cannabis smuggling scheme
A drug-smuggling gang was apprehended after postal workers thwarted a scheme to import cannabis into the UK disguised as candles.
The “industrial scale” operation was led by Abubakr Khawar, 28, from Cardiff, who was sentenced to eight years in prison at the city’s crown court on Wednesday.
More than 80 people across the country were involved in plans to receive parcels containing 327kg of cannabis, with a street value of £3.2m.
A police investigation was initiated after postal workers raised the alarm due to a surge of packages labeled as Yankee Candles.
They noticed something was amiss because the parcels weighed much less than the popular candles.
Upon inspection, vacuum-packed cannabis was discovered hidden inside. Some were also disguised as clothing and toys to avoid detection.
The court heard Khawar received instructions from a man known as Adam Z in the US who shipped the drugs from seven states, including California, New Jersey, Colorado, and Ohio.
The gang made a profit of between £3,000 and £10,000 per day.
In total, 11 people, aged between 24 and 44, were sentenced for conspiracy to supply and import class B drugs.
Judge Eugene Egan said: “It is too simplistic to say ‘all I did was receive a small amount of cannabis through the post.’
This was a well-run, well-organized, and extremely profitable business.”
The court heard 8kg of drugs with a street value of £164,000 was intercepted before it could be delivered to Soloman Bertram, 36, from Cardiff, who was sentenced to 22 months.
He was recruited by his girlfriend and fellow gang member Sophie Jones who also persuaded her brother Keiran Jones, 29, to get involved.
About £277,000 of cannabis destined for his address in the Welsh capital was stopped by detectives. Sophie Jones, 32, is due to be sentenced next month.
Khawar’s second-in-command, Mohammed Nural Hussain, 29, also from Cardiff, received a six-year prison term.
Sean Montgomery – described as a trusted gang member – was sent to a Royal Mail sorting office in Barry to track down 10 missing parcels, representing a loss of £60,000.
The court heard Khawar and his US supplier Adam Z were becoming increasingly frustrated by the number of disappearing packages.
They had in fact been intercepted by the police and Border Force officers.
After the hearing, prosecutor Jenny Hopkins said: “This group was highly organized and criminally sophisticated.
They were arranging and managing transatlantic deliveries to about 80 properties in the UK and then used an extensive distribution network to move the drugs on.
They tried to evade responsibility for their crime by regularly changing the distribution patterns, but they were still caught.”
Deputy Editor
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