Grantham man jailed for his part in plot to ‘flood the UK with drugs’
A DRUGS gang, including a man from Grantham, has been arrested by police after setting up a sophisticated organisation to flood the UK with drugs.
Stephen Lismore, 41, of Brittain Drive, Grantham, was sentenced to three years and two months on Friday for his role in the 15-strong gang, led by Coventry man Anthony Spencer.
The amount of drugs the gang planned to import was so large they bought an industrial cement mixer to help bulk the drugs with cutting agents.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) worked with West Midlands Police, Warwickshire Police and Dutch police to make the arrests.
SOCA Deputy Director Andy Sellers said: “These are career criminals who wanted to make a lot of money through drug trafficking with no regard for the harm they would cause communities and individuals.
“They spent a long time planning how they were going to flood the UK with vast quantities of drugs but we were one step ahead of them.
“We were watching their every move and the evidence obtained was so strong they had no choice but to plead guilty.”
The gang had been under surveillance for months and officers watched meetings in Coventry, Sheffield, Kent and Amsterdam. They were seen burying purpose-built safes which could store up to 14 kilos of drugs.
A farm was discovered in Zwanenburg, Amsterdam, which was used as a drugs warehouse and a flat which officers described as an “Aladdin’s cave” of drugs.
Heavily armed police swooped in January, 2009, using a bulldozer to get into the farm. Police seized 100 kilos of amphetamine and 50 kilos of cannabis.
Gang-leader Anthony Spencer was extradited back to the UK and British officers moved in to arrest the other gang members still at home. Police believed the operation was due for a major expansion, with heavy investment in equipment, while Spencer talked about importing two or three loads of drugs a week.
Lismore, originally from Warwickshire, had known Spencer for a number of years. He transported drugs for the gang and was seen handing a box containing five kilos of amphetamine to another man at a meeting in Sheffield.
Also inside Lismore’s box was a comic book called “Him and Her Smuggling Vacation”, written by Spencer’s son. Police said copies of the comic appeared at nearly every location where search warrants were issued.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Journal.
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