Drugs Boss Baron Smuggled 52 Tonnes Into UK

The leader of a gang who imported 52 tonnes of cocaine and cannabis into the UK has pleaded guilty to drugs smuggling and money laundering.

Philip Baron, 57, ran an international smuggling operation that police described as among the top 10 uncovered in Britain.

Running the operation while living abroad, the gang used what were described as ingenious methods to convey the drugs into the UK, including hiding them in machine parts and in the back of a safe.

The former HGV driver from Salford had based himself in Ireland and fought extradition to the UK for two years until he was brought back by police in 2012.

Authorities thought Baron ran a company which rented deckchairs in Spain; but he was actually a key figure in the smuggling ring.

Twenty-eight members of the gang have already been convicted and jailed for their roles in the operation.

Baron and the other dealers used "virtual offices" to pay for the services of legitimate companies to hide what they were doing, to launder their profits, and to take them out of the UK.

They were eventually caught after phone calls made by an accomplice who was in prison were monitored by police.

Walter Callinan, 60, was initially heard bragging that the police had no evidence. But in a later call to Baron he realised key documents had been found in the home of another member of the gang.

He said. "They've got that much documentation ... the Pope wouldn't get out of it."

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Drugs Boss Baron Smuggled 52 Tonnes Into UK