3 Indian-origin men jailed in UK for smuggling cannabis worth 1 mn pounds
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 May, 2023 02:19 PM
London, May 10 (IANS) Three Indian-origin members of an organised crime group have been jailed for smuggling cannabis worth around 1 million pounds into the UK from Canada, police said.
Kuran Gill, Jag Singh and Govind Bahia, all in their 30s, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a 'class B' drug and were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court, the Kent Police said.
The Border Force officers discovered two pallet-loads of cannabis within a shipment of computer casing at Heathrow airport in February 2021.
Valued at around 1 million pounds, the drugs had been flown across from Canada and were due to be delivered to a business address in Dartford.
The detectives were able to link the shipment to members of a criminal network who had been arranging the importation of cannabis over an illegally-encrypted mobile phone platform, which international law enforcement agencies cracked in the spring of 2020, according to the Kent Police.
"The cracking of the EncroChat mobile phone platform has led to countless criminals being caught red-handed and brought to justice," Investigating officer, Detective Constable Steve Brown of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said in a release last week.
Kuran Gill, 32, of Sun Marsh Way, Gravesend, organised the importation and onward distribution of the cannabis and also facilitated the sale of a kilogram of cocaine.
Officers seized around 105,000 pound cash from his home address following his arrest in April 2021.
Gill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a 'class B' drug, conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property, and was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.
Jag Singh, 32, of The Boulevard, south-west London, was also involved in organising the importation and distribution of the cannabis.
Using the chat handle of 'Real Crocodile' he exchanged multiple messages with Gill in which they openly discussed routes into the country, ways in which the drugs could be concealed and how much it would cost.
Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a class B drug and was jailed for four years and nine months.
Govind Bahia, 30, of Tennyson Walk, Gravesend, assisted Gill with advice and direction on the type and quantity of cannabis to purchase.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a class B drug and was jailed for three years.The drugs were seized as part of an investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.
"Organised gangs across Europe thought they could openly discuss their criminal activity, oblivious to the fact the system was not as secure as they thought and that every message they sent was bringing them a step closer to prison," Brown said.
In effect, Britain will have an incredible and unprecedented third Prime Minister in three and a half months. Truss added she had agreed with Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee - the body that conducts internal elections in the Conservative party - that the leadership election will be completed within a week.
The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday advised all Indian citizens, including students, to leave the war-torn nation at the earliest by available means, due to "deteriorating security situation" there.
Sahota, 71, who has served as Councillor at Telford and Wrekin council since 2001 for 21 years, was nominated by Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and will thus be addressed as Lord Sahota.
The 33-year-old will pull all her kit and supplies on a sledge (pulk), weighing around 120kg (19 stone) at the start of her epic journey in November, while battling temperatures of -50c and wind speeds of up to 60mph. "I expect the journey to take approximately 75 days. Having done 700 miles to the South Pole, I know I can do 1,100 miles," Chandi, a physiotherapist with the British Army, said.
Three Sikh recruits, working to join the US Marine Corps, fought for an emergency appeal in District of Columbia's federal court to get an immediate exemption to the Corps' boot camp rule of cutting their hair and shaving their beards. The three plaintiffs -- Aekash Singh, Milaap Singh Chahal, and Jaskirat Singh -- want to attend Marine Corps basic training without having to shave their beards or forgo their turbans.
The bodies of eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, 39 were found in an "extremely remote" area near the intersection of Indiana and Hutchins roads. Jesus Salgado is said to have had a long-standing feud with the family and was a former employee in their trucking business.
