Cannabis smugglers who netted £20m profit jailed

Members of Britain's largest skunk cannabis smuggling ring yesterday received jail terms of up to 16 years.

By The Newsroom

Published 26th Mar 2010, 10:02 BST

Updated 26th Mar 2010, 10:02 BST

The defendants shipped at least 62m of the drug into the UK, reaping a 20m profit.

The cannabis was hidden among boxes of flowers brought to the UK from Holland under the guise of a legitimate import business.

Southwark Crown Court heard that one weekly shipment intercepted in July 2006 contained skunk cannabis worth more than 750,000.

Judge Gregory Stone QC gave the longest sentence, of 16 years, to Terrence Bowler, 40, of Kingston, Surrey, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cannabis. Eleven others were also sentenced.

The court heard that the criminals had used Harwich ferry port in Essex but after the seizure changed tactics, shipping the drugs to Hull and on to a warehouse in Leeds.