Cocaine barons sniff jail bars

2006-01-06 23:37

London - Two Colombian immigrants who headed a huge international cocaine ring have been sentenced to 19 and 17 years in prison, part of a major case in which 32 others had pleaded guilty or been convicted in Britain.

The sentences and convictions became public on Friday after the last of the defendants ended her case by pleading guilty and a judge lifted an order that had barred the media from reporting on the proceedings at Southwark crown court in south London.

Police said Jesus Anibal Ruiz-Henao, 45, and his brother-in-law Mario Tascon, 32, both Colombian immigrants, were convicted of heading a network that imported huge amounts of cocaine into Britain, possibly up to a street value of $1.75bn for more than 10 years.

Non-terrorism police operation

Detective chief superintendent Sharon Kerr said the effort that smashed the ring was Britain's biggest non-terrorism police operation.

Ruiz-Henao, believed to have been the gang's leader in Britain, was sentenced to 19 years in jail and Tascon, his deputy, got 17 years'.

The two, originally from Pereira, Colombia, pleaded guilty in February to money laundering and conspiracy to supply drugs.

They came to Britain in 1990, claiming they were fleeing persecution at home, and won the right to stay. They were arrested in November 2003, after two years of surveillance.

Police seized 645kg cocaine

Authorities said the drug ring had been Britain's largest, employing at least 50 people.

Authorities said it smuggled as much as a ton of cocaine, with a street value of $44.5m into the country each year.

Police seized $6.2m in cash and 645kg of cocaine during their investigations.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith, who sentenced the two leaders, said that their capture was a rare exception, because it was generally difficult to trace those at the top of huge drug rings.

He said: "This is because they pay other people to carry out the dangerous work, where an arrest is more likely. Meanwhile, they make enormous profits from this foul trade."

Criminal conspiracies

Authorities initially were conducting two separate investigations, one into drug smuggling and another of money laundering, but eventually realised the two criminal conspiracies were linked.

A total of 34 people had pleaded guilty or been convicted in Britain of money laundering or drug crimes in the case. Fourteen others had been arrested in Colombia.

Authorities said the ring's cocaine was usually sent by ship from Colombia to Spain or Portugal, where it would be smuggled ashore in small boats and trucked to Britain.

Smugglers would cover bundles of cocaine in mustard to disguise the smell from sniffer dogs, hide it in fruit or embed it in clothing or plastic.

Investigators said proceeds were laundered back to Colombian drug cartels through front companies or taken in cash by couriers who swallowed condoms stuffed with $120 notes.

- AP