Drug Gang Jailed

44 years for Benzocaine importers - several men from Derbyshire jailed

A gang - including three men from Derbyshire - have been jailed for a total of 44 years for importing hundreds of kilos of Benzocaine - which is used to mix with cocaine to make it go further. 

Packages of it were delivered to Ripley and Burnley - Derbyshire police say they WILL find people involved in supplying drugs. 

Detective Inspector Graham Gallagher, of Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU): 

"The gang imported at least 485 kilos of benzocaine into the UK. This is a substantial amount almost 20 times the annual importation amount of the leading industry user. When cut, this meant the gang were responsible for potentially over £48million worth of adulterated cocaine hitting our streets, creating untold misery. 

Drugs cause damage to our communities; they blight our neighbourhoods and fuel other crime, with burglaries and robberies often carried out to fund a drug habit. This destructive force was created by Hall and his associates, who were greedy and who sought to maximise their profits by bringing cutting agents into the country. 

They are now facing time in jail and their sentences show the determination of our Serious and Organised Crime Unit when it comes to identifying professional, organised and lifestyle criminals who cause harm to our communities and then putting them behind bars."