Punjab man accused of being a drug courier has been jailed in Britain
The drugs were transported from the Netherlands to England and then by ferry to Northern Ireland in fuel tanks carried in a van, the NCA found.
London: A 34-year-old man of Indian origin, part of a four-man drug smuggling gang, was sentenced to three years in prison at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday for his role in conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis from the Netherlands to Britain. and Republic of Ireland. Convict Joshpal Singh Kothiria was arrested as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation in Britain, which revealed his role as a driver from Wolverhampton in central England who supplied the smuggled drugs to Ireland.
He was convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this year of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad and all four gangsters have now been sentenced to a total of more than 53 years in prison by the same court in central England.
“They used the road and ferry network to transport their drugs across the Irish Sea, hoping to avoid detection by taking advantage of the Common Travel Area and border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. This case perfectly demonstrates how the NCA works with partners to tackle cross-border threats between Britain and Ireland, and we will continue to do everything we can to disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups that impact local communities.” says Mick Pope, NCA Branch Commander. said.
Anthony Terry, 49, also from Wolverhampton, organized the import of drugs and was under surveillance when £1.6 million worth of cocaine was seized at the port of Belfast in Northern Ireland in February 2021.
The drugs were transported from the Netherlands to England and then by ferry to Northern Ireland in fuel tanks carried in a van, the NCA found.
When Terry learned of the seizure, officers watched as he moved fuel tanks identical to those in the van in the Wolverhampton area so they would not be linked to him. He was arrested shortly afterwards and it emerged that his associates in the organized crime group were using the encrypted messaging service Encrochat, which allowed the NCA to identify other occasions in 2020 where he had smuggled drugs and cash for other organized crime groups.
They discovered that Terry had hired Michael Collis, 63, from Wolverhampton, to travel to the Netherlands where he would meet contacts to collect the cocaine and hide it in his van. He recruited two more drivers, including Mohammed Omar Khan, 39, from Birmingham, who supplied drugs to customers in Britain, and Kothiria, who supplied them in the Republic of Ireland.
In evidence, Kothiria had previously said he had made trips between April 1 and June 25, 2020, some of which were to Ireland. He said he was asked to do so by window repairman Terry, whom he had met a few years earlier when he was fixing the broken window on his van. He said he had also been asked to take ferry trips by another Wolverhampton man called Michael Collis.
Kothiria said he collected items on Terry’s instructions in east London on April 5.
Following a trial in November 2022, Terry was jailed for 18 years in connection with the Belfast cocaine bust. He was charged with additional drug trafficking offenses relating to the messages found on his Encrochat device in April 2022 and pleaded guilty in April this year.
Collis also pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in April. All gang members have now been sentenced: Terry was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Collis to 12 years and six months and Khan to 13 years.
(With PTI inputs)