Three jailed after large quantity of cocaine seized in lorry full of mushrooms
Three men who used a haulage company as a front to smuggle millions of pounds of cocaine into the UK have been jailed.
An investigation was launched after 290 kilos of cocaine were discovered hidden among sliced mushrooms, in a lorry which had travelled to Killingholme, by ferry from Hook of Holland, last February. Driver Darryl Sellars, 35, was jailed for 13-and-a-half years last June after pleading guilty to importing class A drugs.
He has now been sentenced to a further 10 years, to run concurrently with his existing term, alongside co-conspirators Ryan Dobb-Clarke and Peter Crunkhurn, both 30, who worked for Merc Trans Ltd, a Scunthorpe-based haulage company.
Dobb-Clarke, the firm's operations manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Sellars also pleaded guilty to the two additional charges, and last month a jury found lorry driver Crunkhurn guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
At Grimsby Crown Court, Dobb-Clarke was jailed for 18 years, and Crunkhurn received 12 years.
The NCA's investigation found that Sellars and Crunkhurn made seven other lorry trips to the Netherlands and back in the weeks, orchestrated by Dobb-Clarke, before the 290-kilo cocaine seizure.
Once the lorries returned to the UK, either Sellars or Crunkhurn would then drive from north Lincolnshire to south Wales in another vehicle to deliver the drugs for onward supply – again directed by Dobb-Clarke.
Vehicle tracking data obtained from the lorries enabled investigators to trace the journeys.
Their phones were also seized revealing WhatsApp messages sent by Dobb-Clarke referencing the drug importations alongside self-portrait photos in a small plane and a boat. A message he sent to Crunkhurn read, "can you do Holland next week? Go Thursday night? So back Saturday morning in UK? I need answers mate please".
Julie Booker, NCA Branch Commander, said: "These men mistakenly thought they could hide their criminality behind a legitimate company, but our thorough investigation foiled their operation and put them before the courts”.