Members of an organised crime group that attempted to import 1.2 tonnes of cocaine into the UK with the help of a corrupt port security guard have been jailed for a total of more than 74 years following a major National Crime Agency-led operation.
The operation took place at Sheerness Port in Kent in December 2021, and saw more than a hundred officers swoop on the gang as they attempted to recover the drugs from a container.
The drugs, which had an estimated street value of more than £90 million, had arrived on a vessel from Costa Rica and were hidden inside a shipment of bananas.
The shipment had been arranged by gang leaders Danny Laird, 41, from Buntingford in Hertfordshire, and Joel McCaughey, 34, from Manchester.
However, they were unaware they had been the subject of a two-month surveillance operation by the NCA, whose officers watched as a series of meetings took place at pubs, cafes and service stations to organise the importation and recover the drugs.
In late November 2021, McCaughey flew to Costa Rica to oversee the loading of the cocaine into a container. Text messages later found on his phone by the NCA showed he stood to make £400,000 from the venture.
McCaughey arrived back in the country to lead four other members of the group as they attempted to recover the drugs.
They included Darren Laurie, 53, of no fixed abode, who had trained Michael Turner, 57, Kyle Davidson, 33, and Ian Woodward, 36, all from Hertfordshire, to use a forklift truck they had purchased.
In the early hours of 20 December 2021, the gang arrived at the port in two vans and were waved through a security checkpoint by corrupt security guard Sam Elphick, 30, from Sheerness.
As they used the fork lift to access the container carrying the drugs, armed officers from the NCA and Kent Police moved in to make the arrests.
A short time later Laird, who was already electronically tagged for other unrelated offences, was arrested by the NCA at his home address in Buntingford.
Six men were charged with conspiring to import class A drugs, and all pleaded guilty, while Elphick pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
Today [29 November] a judge at Maidstone Crown Court sentenced Turner to 11 years; Laurie to 12 years and four months; Davidson to 10 years; Woodward to 11 years and three months; Laird to 14 years and eight months and McCaughey to 13 years and four months.
Elphick was sentenced to two years.
NCA operations manager Paul Orchard said: “The NCA has stopped a significant amount of drugs from reaching the streets of the UK, and completely dismantled this organised crime group who were using a corrupt port worker to circumvent border controls.
“Sam Elphick was recruited specifically for his knowledge of Sheerness Port and the security systems.
“This kind of knowledge and access are like gold dust to organised crime, and it is why stopping corrupt insiders and the threat they pose are a priority for us.”
Dave Smith, Border Force South East Regional Director, said: “Thanks to the remarkable work by NCA, Kent Police and Border Force, we stopped over £90 million worth of cocaine flooding into our communities.
“We are working endlessly to prevent drug smuggling, and this seizure, and others like it, sends a clear message to criminal gangs that we remain committed tackling these despicable drug supply chains.”
The operation at Sheerness, which was also supported by Border Force and the port operator Peel Ports, is part of ongoing NCA activity using Home Office Drug Strategy funding to protect the security and integrity of the UK border at ports and airports.