Industrial hydraulic press used to hide £2.25 million of cocaine
21 June 2011
A drug gang who used a specially adapted hydraulic press to conceal 18.4kgs of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle it into south west England have been sentenced to 50 years at Exeter Crown Court. The gang went to considerable lengths to conceal the drugs within the press and to legitimise its delivery to an address in Torbay. They even fabricated a brochure with their hydraulic press on the front cover and invented a company name, “TORBOL” that seemed to nicely link the Torquay destination with the Bolivian origin.
Had the drugs – which tests show were “uncut” cocaine with a purity of around 80% - reached their destination, they could have been cut into as many as 80,000 deals, generating more than £2.25 million.
The concealment was discovered by German Customs Officers at Frankfurt Airport in December 2010 during a routine examination of two pallets which contained the component parts of the press. These had arrived from Bolivia, via Buenos Aires, destined for the UK. The direct importation from South America to Europe accounted for the unusually high purity of the drugs.
The consignment was forwarded to the UK, where the cocaine was removed by officers from SOCA before it was allowed to run its intended course. On 4th January 2011 the consignment was collected from Heathrow Airport delivered to Mark Lang at Taylor Made Gates, Coventry Farm Estate, Torquay.
SOCA kept the site under surveillance for almost two weeks. On Sunday 16th January, Lang, was joined at the premises by Jose Ricardo Gomez (a Mexican national who had arrived in the UK 2 days earlier) and Peter Ferguson, and together they opened the press. Gomez was required in the UK to open the concealment because of his specialist knowledge. It was at this point that all three were arrested by SOCA officers working with Devon & Cornwall police.
Richard Watson, Regional Head of Investigation for SOCA, commented; “This gang went to great lengths to make their sophisticated concealment look legitimate with the hope of allowing direct importation of high purity cocaine from South America to the South West. Had they succeeded, they would have generated huge profits for themselves, while fuelling more crime and drug abuse on the streets on England.”
Supt Jim Nye, Local Policing Area Commander for the bay said: “The targeting of individuals concerned in the illegal supply of drugs remains a priority for us and we will continue to focus our energy on disrupting this activity. We know that cocaine destined for the streets of Torbay and other towns has a direct link with violent crime and there is no doubt this recent success will go a long way in reducing the numbers of victims in our communities.”
Gomez pleaded guilty prior to trial and was sentenced to 17 years. Ferguson and Lang were sentenced to 18 and 15 years respectively.