UK court finds three guilty of smuggling drugs in sweet potato boxes

Three members of an East London organised crime group have been found guilty of involvement in a drugs operation that saw Class A and B drugs smuggled into the United Kingdom from Jamaica in deliveries of sweet potatoes.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) began their investigation in October 2018, when officers from the Metropolitan Police, who were working with the NCA, seized nearly 35 kilos of cannabis from a car in Hackney.

The drugs were wrapped in sealed packages within cardboard boxes used for transporting sweet potatoes.

The three Asians were held guilty in the Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

One of them was Kashif Mushtaq, 38, from Romford, who was found to have links to Jamaica. The NCA suspected Mushtaq also played a leading role in the operation despite being in Pakistan when the drugs were seized. He was subsequently arrested after returning to the UK.

This seizure led NCA investigators to a second shipment three months later in January 2019 when 94 packages containing cocaine and cannabis were found in another load of sweet potatoes on a flight that had arrived at Gatwick airport from Kingston, Jamaica.

The drugs collectively weighed 85.5 kilos and would have been worth more than £3.5 million if sold on the streets of the UK. NCA teams tracked the second load of drugs to an industrial estate in Hayes, where the boxes were seen being sorted.

Officers arrested Attiq Ur Rehman as he took a handover of the boxes in Kingsbury Road, North London. Rehman tried to run away before officers caught up with him.

A third man, Sarbjit Chumber, 48, from Hounslow, who was suspected of being involved in the exchange and was in phone contact with the men, was arrested minutes later at Spitalfields Market.

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Jon Eatwell of the NCA’s Anti-Corruption Unit said: “This crime group was well organised and established a system that enabled them to smuggle drugs into the UK through legitimate services, where every man had his role in the conspiracy”.

“The drugs they trafficked would have been sold across London and could have fuelled further crime and violence.

“Working with partners, we are determined to relentlessly pursue organised crime groups involved in the importation and supply of drugs,” he added.

• Europe