Gang busted for UK/China drugs trade

A gang that smuggled over £100 million of Cocaine, using legitimately purchased chemicals from China, has been jailed.

Chinese police seize a total of 100 kilograms of methamphetamine after bust a cross-border drug trafficking gang. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

A criminal gang responsible for supplying drugs have been handed sentences totaling more than 40 years at Northampton Crown Court in the United Kingdom.

The investigation that led to the trial focused on a man named Daniel Taylor. Taylor was jailed late in 2016, but separate trials of his accomplices have only recently concluded.

Taylor was sentenced to 18 years for masterminding one of the largest ever importations of Benzocaine into the UK. He was convicted of importing 2.7 tonnes of the cocaine cutting agent which would have given it an estimated street value of £118 million.

Between 2011 and 2014 Taylor placed numerous orders of Benzocaine – a cutting agent used to bulk out cocaine, from both UK and overseas companies. 

The scale of the operation was uncovered in early 2014 after Border Force UK intercepted a 300 kilogram shipment of Benzocaine from a company in China and destined for Acuchem Ltd - a company set up by Taylor. 

Detective Constable Scott Allan, who led the investigation, said: “This was a complicated investigation that involved two years of detailed enquiries by Northamptonshire Police in collaboration with the National Crime Agency (NCA), Border Force, Bedfordshire and Met Police Forces.

“The defendants in this case used the guise of legitimate companies to purchase, manufacture and sell controlled drugs, as well as cutting agents and pre-cursor chemicals used in the manufacture of Cocaine, Meth-Amphetamine and Anabolic Steroids, many of the items purchased were imported in from China.''