A man and a woman have been sentenced for their roles in a large-scale drug smuggling operation which saw packages containing cocaine and cannabis being shipped from abroad to addresses in Nottingham.
The drugs, potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds, were concealed within packages containing ash trays, tubs of hair cream and clothing in a bid to evade detection from law enforcement.
Parcels were delivered to various addresses linked to 54-year-old Radford man Orvil Brown.
A number of the delivered parcels were sent from The Bahamas. One package, containing 4.22 kilograms of cannabis concealed within clothing, was sent from Chicago in the United States before it was intercepted.
Some of the packages were seized by UK Border Force officials on arrival in the United Kingdom.
Police arrested Brown and 32-year-old Jaurdan Scarlett after executing a warrant at an address in Bestwood on 5 January 2021. It followed an extensive joint investigation into the importation of cocaine and cannabis between 2 September 2015 and 23 December 2020.
Brown, of Pine View, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug, namely cocaine, and a Class B drug, namely cannabis, between 1 September 2015 and 6 January 2021.
Scarlett, of Arnside Road, Bestwood, was not involved in the cocaine importation but was found guilty of conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug, namely cannabis, between 1 September 2015 and 6 January 2021.
Brown was locked up for five years and Scarlett was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and 120 hours’ unpaid work when they appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Wednesday (5 January 2022).
Detective Constable John Hollis, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “There was very strong evidence to link Brown and Scarlett to the importation of a high amount and high value of drugs taking place over a number of years.
“This was a complex investigation, with different force departments working together on it, and this diligent work led to their arrests.
“The force is committed to stopping people who may be bringing drugs into Nottinghamshire and drug-related activity across the county.
“We work very closely and proactively with our partners and border agencies to tackle this issue and when there is intelligence suggesting that imported drugs are headed for Nottinghamshire we will act on it.
“Drugs can have a serious impact on our communities and they can be linked to wider and serious organised criminality which is why we remain determined to stop any such activity in its tracks and bring those who spread such misery in our communities to justice.
“Removing drug dealers from the streets makes communities across Nottinghamshire safer and we have shown consistently, through local Reacher team warrants and other operations, that we will act on local intelligence to swiftly remove people who cause harm in our neighbourhoods.
“Local residents can help make their own neighbourhoods safer by reporting any information about drug dealing to Nottinghamshire Police on 101.”
