Crime gang members sentenced to jail after trying to import cocaine

Members of a crime gang which tried to import cocaine through Sheerness Port are starting more than 74 years in prison.

Seven men were caught during an operation involving more than 100 officers in December 2021.

Drugs with an estimated worth of more than 90 million pounds were hidden inside a shipment of bananas which arrived from Costa Rica.

The shipment had been arranged by gang leaders Danny Laird, 41, from Buntingford in Hertfordshire, and Joel McCaughey, 34, from Manchester.

The two men were unaware they had been the subject of a two-month surveillance operation by the National Crime Agency. Their officers monitored a series of meetings in cafes, pubs and service stations to plan the importation of the drugs.

The gang included Darren Laurie, 53, of no fixed abode, Michael Turner, 57, Kyle Davidson, 33, and Ian Woodward, 36, all from Hertfordshire. Laurie trained the men to use a forklift truck they had purchased.

In the early hours of 20 December 2021, the gang arrived at the port in two vans. They were able to pass through security thanks to security guard Sam Elphick, 30, from Sheerness.

Armed officers from the NCA and Kent Police moved in to make the arrests just as the gang as they used the fork lift to access a container carrying the drugs.

The six men were charged with conspiring to import class A drugs, and all pleaded guilty. Elphick pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

Yesterday at Maidstone Crown Court, a judge sentenced Turner to 11 years; Laurie to 12 years and four months; Davidson to 10 years; Woodward to 11 years and three months; Laird to 14 years and eight months and McCaughey to 13 years and four months. Elphick was sentenced to two years.

NCA operations manager Paul Orchard said: “The NCA has stopped a significant amount of drugs from reaching the streets of the UK, and completely dismantled this organised crime group who were using a corrupt port worker to circumvent border controls.

“Sam Elphick was recruited specifically for his knowledge of Sheerness Port and the security systems.

“This kind of knowledge and access are like gold dust to organised crime, and it is why stopping corrupt insiders and the threat they pose are a priority for us.”

Dave Smith, Border Force South East Regional Director, said: “Thanks to the remarkable work by NCA, Kent Police and Border Force, we stopped over £90 million worth of cocaine flooding into our communities.

“We are working endlessly to prevent drug smuggling, and this seizure, and others like it, sends a clear message to criminal gangs that we remain committed tackling these despicable drug supply chains.”