Gang that imported £15m of cannabis hidden among pallets of lettuce and kitchen equipment and grew it in secret underground bunker are jailed for a total of 56 years
- A group of seven men were jailed for production and importation of cannabis
- They used fake businesses to import 2.5 tonnes of the drug in from Spain
- It was then stored in lock-ups across Warrington, Bolton and Manchester
- The drug was hidden in packages labelled as oven filters and pallets of lettuce
A gang that imported £15million worth of cannabis hidden among pallets of lettuce and kitchen equipment have been jailed for a total of 56 years.
The group used fake businesses to bring 2.5 tonnes of cannabis into the UK from Spain, storing the Class B drug in lock-ups across Warrington, Bolton and Manchester.
They also buried storage containers to create an underground cannabis farm - only to discover conditions remained too wet for the plot to work.
Scott Byrne, 32, Michael Lawlor, 49, Tony Cadman, 32, Wesley Kinsella, 31, Lee Jackson, 38, Michael Moore, 30, and Michael Harley, 35, were jailed for a combined total of 56 years at Manchester Crown Court today.
Between July and November 2017 the gang had imported seven deliveries of cannabis through the Port of Dover. They were hidden in packages labelled as oven filters and destined for a kitchen firm that did not exist.
Scott Byrne (left), and Tony Cadman (right), both 32, were found guilty of importing cannabis
Share this article
Pictured: Cannabis hidden in pallets of lettuce and destined for the North West
The address the bogus company was linked to actually referred to a yard containing lock-ups in the Lowton area of Warrington.
From September 2017 to August 2018 six further drug deliveries linked to the gang - this time destined for a cold storage company in north Manchester - travelled through Dover secreted among pallets of lettuce and peppers.
Police stopped the sixth delivery and discovered 177kg of cannabis with a street value of £1.5m.
A unit at the site in Lowton, owned by Widnes man Tony Cadman, was subsequently raided.
Further investigations linked the unit to Michael Lawler, Wesley Kinsella and a second lock-up at Hartford Works, Western Street in Bolton.
Michael Lawlor (left), 49, was found guilty of importing cannabis and sentenced to nine years in prison. Michael Moore (right), 30, pleaded guilty to production of cannabis on an industrial scale and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison
One of the gang's sites was raided and a stolen Mercedes containing cannabis worth £20,000 was found
Michael Harley (left), 35, pleaded guilty to production of cannabis on an industrial scale and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. Wesley Kinsella (right), 31, pleaded guilty to importing cannabis and was sentenced to nine years in prison
That site was raided and a stolen Mercedes containing cannabis worth £20,000 was found.
This recovery led police to Wirral man Lee James Jackson and Scott Byrne.
Further inquiries at legitimate storage companies found consignments destined for onward delivery to 'Bog Farm' in North Wales.
Police raided the farm - discovering the underground bunker.
They arrested Michael Harley, who was living in a caravan on the farm, as well as Michael Moore, who was living in the farmhouse.
Harley admitted the bunker was built at the farm three years earlier - but said production had soon stopped as it was too wet.
Pictured: A secret bunker created by a drugs gang to grow cannabis in - only for the conditions to prove too wet for the drug
Lee Jackson (left), 38, pleaded guilty to importing cannabis and was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison. Right: A secret bunker created by a drugs gang to grow cannabis in
Greater Manchester Police said the drugs imported in the over filters to the lock up in Lowton totalled £6.6m and those hidden in the vegetable pallets sent to north Manchester totalled £8.85m.
The street value of the cannabis linked to the group was estimated to be £15,450,000.
Following the sentencing of the network today, Detective Sergeant Richard Castley, of GMP's Serious Organised Crime Group investigating team, said: 'Thanks to the excellent work of our officers and colleagues on partner forces and agencies, we have managed to bring down a vast drugs network.
'These men were responsible for attempting to import enormous amounts of cannabis into the UK; the sale of which would have been used to further criminal enterprise.
'They even went to the expense of creating a large underground complex intended for cultivating the drug.
'However, the exceptional detective work of our investigation team was able to identify and dismantle this organised crime group.
'Consignments packaged among lettuces or kitchen equipment were intercepted and prevented from finding their way onto our streets.
'Drugs blight communities and ruin lives. Their sale is used to further the activities of organised criminal gangs who have no regard for the safety of the public or the rule of law.
'Today the law caught up with these would-be kingpins and they have a long time behind bars to consider their foolishness.'
Most watched News videos
- Shocking moment woman is abducted by man in Oregon
- British Army reveals why Household Cavalry horses escaped
- Moment escaped Household Cavalry horses rampage through London
- New AI-based Putin biopic shows the president soiling his nappy
- Prison Break fail! Moment prisoners escape prison and are arrested
- Ammanford school 'stabbing': Police and ambulance on scene
- Wills' rockstar reception! Prince of Wales greeted with huge cheers
- Shadow Transport Secretary: Labour 'can't promise' lower train fares
- All the moments King's Guard horses haven't kept their composure
- Columbia protester calls Jewish donor 'a f***ing Nazi'
- Helicopters collide in Malaysia in shocking scenes killing ten
- Shocking moment pandas attack zookeeper in front of onlookers
