Overview

• Four ringleaders received sentences totaling over 82 years at Truro Crown Court on August 2 after Border Force and the NCA intercepted 230 kg of high-purity cocaine following a 28-mile sea chase off Cornwall.
• Ten members of a County Durham gang were handed a collective 75 years on August 1 for smuggling more than 1.3 tonnes of cannabis and over 40 kg of cocaine from Thailand under Operation Box.
• Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Traun executed dawn raids on July 31, arresting eight suspects and seizing at least 27 kg of mail-order cannabis worth up to £1.5 million.
• Organised criminals have exploited ‘fast parcel’ postal services and overseas flights from jurisdictions where cannabis is legal, prompting coordinated action against mail-based networks.
• Multi-agency collaboration between GMP, NEROCU, the NCA and Border Force continues to target drug trafficking as part of the wider Operation Sentinel campaign against violence and exploitation financed by narcotics.