Drug smugglers guilty over £200m cocaine haul stashed in bananas

A drug-smuggling pack is facing years down bars aft cocaine with a thoroughfare worth of £200 cardinal was intercepted successful a consignment of bananas – making it the UK’s largest haul of the drugs astatine the time.

Crime brag Petko Zhutev was successful complaint of taking transportation of the Colombian drugs astatine a London warehouse successful February 2021 – unaware it had already been seized by borderline officials astatine Portsmouth.

Midway done a retrial astatine the Old Bailey trial, Zhutev, 39, of nary fixed address, admitted importation of a people A cause having antecedently been cleared of possession of a revolver and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Bruno Kuci, 32, of nary fixed address, and Gjergji Diko, 34, of westbound Beckton, who were arrested with Zhutev, had antecedently pleaded blameworthy to the charges.

Two much defendants, Erik Muci, 44, of Haynes Road, Hornchurch and Olsi Ebeja, 40, of Malta Street, Islington, were recovered blameworthy of importation astatine the decision of the retrial.

Muci was besides convicted of proviso of people A drugs but the assemblage could not determine verdicts connected the aforesaid complaint relating to Ebeja.

On Friday, Judge Rebecca Trower KC adjourned sentencing to November 11.

She lifted a reporting regularisation connected the verdicts aft the prosecution announced it would not question a retrial connected the outstanding charge.

The tribunal had heard however larboard officials uncovered 4 pallets containing 2,330 blocks of the people A cause weighing 2.3 tonnes amid a consignment of 41 pallets of bananas from Colombia.

Four days later, 2 covert officers posing arsenic lorry drivers delivered the boxes to a warehouse successful northbound London, having already switched the drugs for much bananas.

Jurors were told the cocaine had a thoroughfare worth of £186 million, rising to £200 cardinal erstwhile mixed with different substances, astatine the clip making it the largest inland seizure ever by UK officers.

Around 2 hours aft the transportation connected February 18 2021, officers entered the warehouse and arrested the archetypal 3 defendants.

Jurors were told that numbered pallets successful which the drugs were transported had been identified and moved to a archetypal level wherever the process of searching them had started.

A revolver containing six unrecorded cartridges was besides recovered from a ceiling girder supra the boxes.

Prosecutor Tyrone Silcott had told jurors: “There is nary quality betwixt the parties that this immense magnitude of cocaine was intended for transportation to the unit, nor is determination immoderate uncertainty the firearm and ammunition was wrong the unit.

“You volition beryllium asked to see whether you are definite the suspect Mr Zhutev was acrophobic successful the importation of the drugs, or, arsenic the defence whitethorn argue, was oregon whitethorn person been conscionable an guiltless idiosyncratic going astir his lawful enactment of importing food.”

The tribunal was told the weapon and ammunition had been hidden successful the warehouse to support the drugs cognition and to beryllium utilized “when the request arose”.

Khutev utilized the screen of his relation arsenic manager of a nutrient importation concern to organise and acceptable up the UK broadside of the transgression operation, jurors heard.

He was successful complaint erstwhile 2 lorries delivered the pallets of bananas, having secured the manpower to unpack, repackage and administer the drugs hidden among the fruit, it was alleged.

The authoritative said: “The Crown trust connected the absurdity that lies wrong the proposition that an organised transgression pack would manus drugs valued astatine a thoroughfare worth of £200 cardinal into the possession of a antheral who had perfectly nary thought it was owed to arrive.”