A LONDON drug gang caught smuggling cocaine and cannabis disguised as fruit and vegetables are sentenced to more than 38 years in prison.
Led by CEO Jarnail Singh, from Ilford, and electrician Tazio Heath, 24, from Enfield, the operation dyed crack cocaine orange to look like pieces of dried papaya.
Cannabis was hidden in boxes of fake yams from Jamaica during the massive smuggling outfit.
Police discovered boxes containing bags of dried fruit labelled ‘fancy island mix’, but found they contained two kilograms of crack cocaine rocks. The five man operation, including a painter and decorator, electrician and recording studio owner, were busted as part of a major police operation.
Officers arrested the painter and decorator carrying the boxes of ‘vegetables’ and later raided the north London home of another gang member where they found 33.8kg of cannabis disguised as yams.
The cannabis ‘yams’ were hidden among real yams in the boxes.
In April and May, border force officials at Gatwick airport, seized a 36kg shipment of cannabis disguised as yams as well as 40kg of herbal cannabis.
The police operation then led officers to a recording studio in Reading, where they found 1.8kg of herbal cannabis.
Detective Constable Catherine Pearson said: “This police operation successfully dismantled a sophisticated crime network that was regularly importing drugs into the UK disguised as food.
“The gang demonstrated their sophistication by using encrypted mobile devices in a bid to frustrate any police investigation but despite their efforts, we were still able to piece together enough evidence to leave them little choice other than to plead guilty at court.”
Singh, 39, of Clayhall Avenue, Ilford, was jailed for 19 years, while Heath, was jailed for seven years.
Luis Restrepo, 40, from Beresford Road, in Highbury, was also jailed for seven years, while Donovan Bailey, 50, of Palmer Park Avenue, Reading, was jailed for two years.
Barrington Bennett, 58, a painter and decorator of no fixed abode, was sentenced on December 2 to three years and nine months.
A woman, Kamla Jalaf, 57, of Clayhall Avenue, Ilford, was charged in May 2015 in connection with the drugs bust but charges were later dropped.
DC Catherine Pearson added: “Jarnail Singh and Tazio Heath were central to this criminal network that had gone to great lengths to conceal cocaine as papaya pieces and hide cannabis inside fake yams, in a clear bid to evade detection by UK Border Force.”
