WIREDGOV

A man from Manchester has been jailed for 20 years for orchestrating a plot to smuggle heroin into the UK, following a joint investigation by officers from the National Crime Agency’s Border Policing Command and Border Force.

In June 2011 Border Force officers at Dover’s Eastern Docks stopped a blue MG sports car as it arrived on a ferry from Calais.

They searched the vehicle and found that a number of packages had been concealed in a specially adapted space between the car seats and fuel tank. The packages were tested and found to contain around 28 kilos of heroin.

It is estimated that the heroin would have had a street value of approximately £2.1 million.

The vehicle’s driver, 48-year-old Carlton Taylor of Hilton Lane, Worsley, Greater Manchester, was arrested. Taylor later pleaded guilty to attempting to import class A drugs, and on 2 April 2012 he was sentenced to eight years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court.

Investigators discovered that the car had been bought from a dealer in Manchester and that Taylor had been in mobile phone contact with 53-year-old Trevor Rawlins on the day of his arrest.

In January 2012 officers raided Rawlins flat in Piccadilly, Manchester, and found a receipt for the purchase of the car and computer files showing that he had bought a new fuel tank for the vehicle online. £3,000 cash was also seized.

Travel records showed that Rawlins had flown back to Manchester from Amsterdam on the day of the attempted importation and had made several trips to the Dutch city previously, on dates that co-incided with journeys between Calais and Dover made by Taylor.

Rawlins was charged with being involved in the importation of controlled drugs. On 16 October he was found guilty following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court, and on Friday 25 October he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Malcolm Bragg, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, said: “While he may not have physically brought the drugs in himself, there is no doubt that Rawlins was at the very top of a plot to import commercial quantities of class A drugs. He was a key player.

“These drugs were worth millions of pounds and they were destined to cause misery on the streets of the UK.

“Working with our Border Force colleagues we are determined to tackle those responsible for trafficking illegal drugs into the UK and causing terrible damage to our communities.”

Paul Morgan, Director of Border Force South East and Europe, added:

“We welcome the sentence handed out in this case. Working with our colleagues at the NCA, Border Force is at the forefront of the fight to stop drugs entering the UK.”