An international crime ring that has links to Europe was caught red-handed after delivering PS2 millions worth of cannabis onto Seaforth docks. The drug was hidden in boxes of kale, broccoli and lettuce.

A container on May 21 was loaded onto a boat located in Sines, Portugal, destined to be shipped off for Seaforth Docks and on May 27, twenty pallets of kale and broccoli and lettuce “tightly covered with transparent black bags” were removed from the vessel at Merseyside. Border Force officers carried out an X-ray of the containers, which showed “anomalies”.

The smugglers made sure to disguise their scheme by establishing a company with a fake name, acquiring warehouses in Malaga as well as the UK and even having T-shirts printed with the name of their front company, LB Wholesale. In the past it was reported that the group organized an “dummy run” that sent an innocent package of aubergine, broccoli and kale about a month ahead of the smuggled shipment.

The Prosecutor Louise McCloskey: “This was an elaborately organized, well-equipped and well-organized criminal scheme. The perpetrators created a legit cover-up company, utilized warehouses for commercial use, and utilized professional services from bona fide shipping and transport companies, and took it printing T-shirts with an image of the fake business LB Wholesale to create an appearance of credibility.

“The size and manner of the importation show how funded and well-established the defendants are in Europe. This importation would have inundated with UK streets with illegal drugs making huge money for the people on the upper-end of the deal.”

Source: liverpoolecho.co.uk

Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies