Big Fella trafficked £7 billion in drugs

The UK's largest-ever drug smuggling operation, led by a gangster known as "The Big Fella," was responsible for trafficking up to £7 billion worth of heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, and cannabis into the UK.

Paul Green, 59, acted as the key point of contact for several criminal gangs, charging them to ship drugs into Britain over a two-and-a-half-year period. The drugs were concealed within pallets of fresh produce, including onions, garlic, and ginger, to evade detection.

Green and his associates took extraordinary measures to hide their involvement, setting up fake companies and warehouses in the Netherlands and northern England using stolen identities. At the Dutch end of the operation, the drugs were hidden among the produce, which was then shipped to the UK by unsuspecting haulage companies. Once in the UK, the criminals would retrieve the drugs for distribution to their paying customers.

The use of onions, garlic, and ginger helped to mask the scent of the drugs. One of the customers linked to the operation was John Kinsella, a 53-year-old enforcer for a Merseyside mob, who was tragically murdered in May 2018 while walking his dogs with his pregnant partner.

Prosecutor Andrew Thomas KC explained that the operation continued undeterred, even after arrests and drug seizures, as the conspirators quickly switched to different companies when one became exposed.

Although only six drug seizures were made, National Crime Agency investigators found evidence of at least 240 separate shipments, with up to four deliveries taking place each week.

Messages recovered from Green's encrypted EncroChat phone, where he went by the alias "Duckfarmer," provided further evidence of the operation.

At Manchester Crown Court, Green, from Widnes, Cheshire, was sentenced to 32 years in prison for conspiracy to import drugs and fraud. His associate, Steven Martin, 53, from Bolton, who managed the finances, received a 28-year sentence, while Muhammad Ovais, 46, from Burnage, Manchester, responsible for distribution, was sentenced to 27 years.

The scale of the operation makes it the largest drug-smuggling operation ever uncovered in the UK. Judge Paul Lawton, during sentencing, told the gang members, "The harm caused beyond the importation is incalculable. What you were actually distributing was addiction, misery, social degradation, and death."