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Leicester men guilty of smuggling 36m of cannabis
Anjam Nazir, Mohinder Singh, Baljinder Singh
Three men from Leicester have pleaded guilty to their part in one of the country’s biggest Cannabis smuggling operations.
Leicestershire Constabulary is now able to provide details about the £36m drugs investigation following the conclusion of the trial at Winchester Crown Court today (Tuesday June 2).
Baljinder Singh Rai ( 41) of Huntsman Way in Leicester, Mohinder Singh Rai (45) of Portsdown Road in Leicester and Anjum Nazir (39) of Bloxams Close in Braunstone were all charged with fraudulent evasion of restriction to import class C drugs.
They pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing but details could not be released until the conclusion of the trial of a further eight men. Four of the final defendants were found guilty on Friday May 29 and two were found guilty today.
Sentencing is due to take place later this month. Two of the defendants were acquitted.
Detectives from Leicestershire Constabulary’s Special Operations Unit began investigating the trio around 18 months ago.
It was soon established that their involvement in the drugs trade stretched far wider than Leicestershire and local police joined forces with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
Investigations established that the three Leicester men were assisting an Israeli organised crime group make arrangements in the UK to find a place to berth a tug boat under the ruse of setting up a tug business in Southampton. Months of surveillance work documented meetings between the two groups of men, including a number at a flat in Leicester which had been rented by the Leicester defendants for the Israeli men to use.
In March 2008 a 100ft ocean going tug boat, owned by one of the Israeli defendants Moshe Kedar, left Morocco and arrived in Southampton four weeks later.
On Wednesday April 9 officers from Leicestershire Constabulary arrested Baljinder Rai, Mohinder Rai and Nazir. At the same time SOCA, assisted by HM Revenue and Customs, the UK Borders Agency and Hampshire Police arrested a number of other people elsewhere in the country including those who had come on the boat.
The tug boat was also intercepted and found to contain 12.57 tonnes of cannabis resin with a street value of £36 million pounds. SOCA estimate it was enough cannabis to roll 36 million joints.
In total 12 people were charged with offences under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979. Aside from the three from Leicester, all the defendants were from overseas - three Israelis, four Serbians and two Ukrainians – demonstrating the international impact of the investigation.
Detective Chief Inspector David Sandall, who led the Leicestershire side of the investigation, said: “This case demonstrates how different agencies can successfully work together to disable the international drugs trade.
“We began by investigating the activities of three Leicester men and it soon became apparent that they were involved in something much bigger than local drugs supply.
This case is a perfect example of how joined up inter-agency working can be extremely successful. Drugs are an international concern and to fight multi-national criminality you have to think, act and work outside the county boundaries. There’s no doubt in my mind that this drugs haul was bound for the streets of Britain, some of which would inevitably ended up in Leicester. By working with SOCA, the UKBA, HMRC and authorities in Israel we have targeted the problem at the source.
“There’s £36m of cannabis that will never reach the street dealers and there are 12 men now serving prison sentences for their part in this crime. All the Leicestershire Constabulary officers who worked on this case can feel proud of their achievements today and the part they played in a much bigger picture, targeting international drugs criminality, while at the same time disrupting local drugs supply and Leicestershire criminals.
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