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Two men have been jailed over a plot to smuggle more than £20M worth of cocaine into the UK inside scrap metal from Guyana.Neil Tindling, 35,Pittsburgh Pirates Jung-ho Kang Jersey, of Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, admitted conspiracy to import cocaine and possession with intent to supply.Tindling was jailed for 22 years at Chelmsford Crown Court.Christopher Foile, 42,Michael Saunders Jersey, of Stebbing, Essex,Jon Niese Jersey, who admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply,Pittsburgh Pirates Drew Hutchison Jersey, was jailed for eight years.The court heard Tindling tried to hide nearly 225kg of cocaine in a shipment of scrap metal from Guyana.Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer said Tindling described himself as a “self-employed painter and decorator” who earned about £60,000 a year.But Tindling was the “prime mover” in the plot and there was evidence that he had made “very large” cash deposits and owned properties in Jamaica and France,St. Louis Cardinals Brett Cecil Jersey, Mr Bowyer told the court.Dutch police found the drugs concealed in rusty steel blocks when the ship docked in Rotterdam in October 2008 after a tip-off,Arizona Diamondbacks Taijuan Walker Jersey, said Mr Bowyer.Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) filled the blocks with sand, re-sealed them, then sent the shipment on to the UK.SOCA then made arrests as Tindling and two associates tried to cut open the blocks in an isolated barn near Chelmsford, Essex, weeks later.A third man, Brandon Coates,Bartolo Colon Jersey, 34,Luis Sardinas Jersey, of Morley, Leeds,Cincinnati Reds Desmond Jennings Jersey, who admits conspiracy to import cocaine will be sentenced on Friday. |
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