UK’s Largest Cocaine Haul Leads to 116-Year Sentencing for Drug Smuggling Gang

Five men have been jailed for using a banana import business as a front to smuggle 2.3 tonnes of cocaine worth £200 million into the UK.

The smuggling operation, led by Bulgarian national Petko Zhutev, used a fake grocery warehouse in London to distribute cocaine hidden in banana shipments from Colombia.
Border Force officials intercepted the shipment at Portsmouth in February 2021, replacing the drugs with bananas before delivering the consignment to the gang's warehouse.
Zhutev received a 27-year sentence, while co-conspirators Erik Muci, Olsi Ebeja, Bruno Kuci, and Gjergji Diko were sentenced to 33, 17, 21, and 18 years respectively.
The operation was described as highly organized, involving international connections, specialized equipment, and coded systems to identify drug-laden shipments.
Authorities hailed the investigation as a major success, preventing the drugs from reaching UK communities and initiating confiscation proceedings to recover criminal profits.