Detectives catch lorry driver with TONNE of heroin and ketamine worth £300m in one of UK’s biggest ever drug busts

Detectives intercepted a lorry containing £300 million worth of drugs in what police have said is the ‘UK’s largest mainland drugs seizure’. The huge drugs bust followed a covert operation by Greater Manchester Police^[1] acting on intelligence.

It ended with the seizure of a shipment worth an ‘immense’ value on the streets, which had been imported into the country via a port in the south.

Drug bosses recruited a Wigan-based team to courier the narcotics - a metric tonne of heroin and ketamine with a street value of £300 million - to the North West. But they were unaware that their every move was being tracked by police.

The HGV containing the drugs - hidden in bags of basmati rice - was intercepted at Keele services off the M6. Now two Wigan^[3] men have faced justice for their roles in the staggering seizure.

Craig Parr, who was said to have led the logistics team, was jailed for 16-and-a-half years, while Andrew Tait, who acted as ‘muscle’ and offered organisational support, was locked up for 18 years. Manchester Crown Court^[4] heard that a huge quantity of heroin, 785 kilos, and 294 kilos of ketamine was imported into the UK by sea through Felixstowe port in the south east of England.

The shipment had begun from Pakistan, then via India before arriving in the country. The importation had been arranged using a ‘sham’ company with an address in London, the court heard.

One named director didn’t exist and the other was under the name of an innocent person whose identity had been stolen. After a shipping container with the drugs had arrived in the country, it was brought to a distribution yard in Essex.

About two weeks earlier, a man from Wigan named Stephen King had hired a van from Salford^[5] Van Hire. He would later be caught by police driving the van, with the huge load of drugs in the back. King denied wrongdoing and has since died.

Parr, believed to be a landscape gardener, and Tait, a joiner, both with limited criminal histories, were hired to help courier the massive load from the South to its intended destination in the North West. The pair, both 42 and dads, were not accused of being involved in the importation of the drugs.

They both travelled to Essex on January 29, 2020, the day the shipment arrived in the UK, prosecutor Matthew Conway said. They ended up spending two nights in a nearby Premier Inn, as damage to the shipping container delayed the job. It was two days later, on January 31, that the journey to courier the drugs to the North West began.

Surveillance officers took pictures of Parr as he secured the straps of the load within the lorry. Prosecutors said the proposed final destination for the drugs was Moss Side^[6] farm in Lancashire, near Bickerstaffe. But the HGV, being driven by King, was being monitored by police.

Officers intercepted it after it had pulled off the M6 into Keele services. Tait and three others were arrested at the farm. Parr, who had learned that the ‘game was up’ was caught days later in a hotel in Newcastle.

Parr, of Barnham Close, Golborne, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A and B drugs, while Tait, of Tram Street, Platt Bridge, was found guilty of the same offences after a trial. Sentencing, Judge Tom Gilbart said: “The weight of the drugs was vast, the value of the drugs was immense.” Parr and Tait said they were offered £500 a day and £300 respectively to take part in the transport.

Stephen King, then aged 44, of Pipit Avenue, Newton-Le-Willows, went on trial accused of the same offences and denied the charges. A first trial into the case had to be aborted in 2021 and he died before a second trial was heard. In a statement to police following his arrest, he said that he had collected packages but that denied knowing that they contained drugs.

Three other men, who were accused of involvement, were acquitted at the second trial, which concluded in December last year. John Hayden, 60, of Roman Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ian Washington, 55, of Edge Green Lane, Golborne, Wigan, and Paul Adair, 48, of Beech Grove, Wigan, were all found not guilty of conspiring to supply class A and B drugs.

Defending Parr, Michael Lavery said the defendant was a ‘logistics man’ who was not involved in the buying or selling of the drugs. He has spent four years in jail since his arrest in March 2020 after an early guilty plea, awaiting the conclusion of the trials. Mr Lavery said there was no evidence of Parr leading a lavish lifestyle, and said he was offered pay of £500 a day plus expenses. He described Parr as a ‘good family man’ who has ‘expressed considerable remorse’.

Gareth Roberts, for Tait, said that the defendant hadn’t initially been aware of the ‘magnitude’ of the drugs involved. He said Tait had been recruited as ‘muscle’ for ‘minimal reward’.

After the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Tony Norman, from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “This investigation spanned over three months where we had specialist detectives working around the clock, observing the men go about their daily businesses, often doing very mundane tasks. We knew they were involved in criminality, and that something significant was being planned the day King hired the HGV, but it was a case of being patient and vigilant to make sure we didn’t miss anything.

“This discovery is the UK’s largest mainland drugs seizure, and there’s no denying the devastation it would have had on our communities had this product made its way to Manchester. This proactive investigation meant we were able to stop that and prevent future harm.

“I’m grateful to the Criminal Prosecution Service and Counsel whose involvement in this complex case was crucial. They worked closely with us throughout the investigation, over four years, to piece together the evidence which ultimately led to the convictions of these men.”

References

1. ^{^} Greater Manchester Police (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Woman appears in court after two friends killed in crash (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Wigan (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Manchester Crown Court (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Moss Side (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)