Geezah
01-06-2006, 10:54 AM
Two Colombians who ran one of the biggest UK cocaine networks have been jailed for 19 and 17 years.
Ex-asylum seekers Jesus Anibal Ruiz-Henao, 45, and Mario Tascon, 32, of Hendon, London, admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering.
After a lengthy investigation, more than 645kg of cocaine was recovered. The cartel is said to have imported £25m of the drug a year.
Dozens of arrests were made in the autumn of 2003, mostly in London.
Ruiz-Henao and Tascon both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at a hearing last year.
They also both pleaded guilty to money laundering, for which Ruiz-Henao received 10 years and Tascon nine years - to run concurrently.
The 50-strong gang of Ruiz-Henao and brother-in-law Tascon was considered to be the country's biggest cocaine ring by detectives, with conduits to every major city.
The breaking of the ring followed a joint four-year investigation between the National Crime Squad and the Colombian authorities. Scotland Yard ran a parallel inquiry into the money laundering side of the business.
The linked investigations led to 60 arrests and the seizure of £3.5m in cash, as well as the 645kg of cocaine.
Details of the cocaine network could not be revealed until the end of a slew of linked cases involving more than 30 people.
These restrictions were lifted when the last of the suspects admitted, at Southwark Crown Court, an offence of helping another to retain the benefits of drug trafficking.
Rare catch
The masterminds were both from Pereira in Colombia and arrived in the UK in 1990, being granted indefinite leave to remain after claiming asylum.
The authorities estimate that their cartel, at its peak, was bringing a tonne of cocaine into the country a year with a value of £25m.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said those who ran the drugs industry were "very rarely caught".
"This is because they pay other people to carry out the dangerous work where an arrest is more likely," he said.
"Their fingerprints are not found on the drug packaging, no telephone is shown to have made relevant calls, nothing incriminating is found in their homes.
"Others carry out their tasks. Meanwhile they make enormous profits from this foul trade."
Other convictions
Other members of the ring to be sentenced include Wimar de Jesus Ospina Castano, 35, of Tottenham, north London and Jose Manuel Rojes-Pineda, 35, of Rotherhithe, south east London, each jailed for four years in May last year for money laundering.
A raid on a lorry in Thurrock that recovered 72kg of cocaine led to the jailing of William Ruiz-Henao, 33 - Jesus Anibal's younger brother - of east London, and Ramon Navarro, 39, from Almeira in Spain, jailed for 16 years and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Roque Garcia-Martinez, 31, also from Almeira, and Ivan Garcia Ospina, 31, of Haringay, north London, were jailed for 13 and 16 years respectively for the same offence.
The parallel investigations have also led to the admission of offences or conviction of 26 other people.
Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4358062.stm)
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Ex-asylum seekers Jesus Anibal Ruiz-Henao, 45, and Mario Tascon, 32, of Hendon, London, admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering.
After a lengthy investigation, more than 645kg of cocaine was recovered. The cartel is said to have imported £25m of the drug a year.
Dozens of arrests were made in the autumn of 2003, mostly in London.
Ruiz-Henao and Tascon both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at a hearing last year.
They also both pleaded guilty to money laundering, for which Ruiz-Henao received 10 years and Tascon nine years - to run concurrently.
The 50-strong gang of Ruiz-Henao and brother-in-law Tascon was considered to be the country's biggest cocaine ring by detectives, with conduits to every major city.
The breaking of the ring followed a joint four-year investigation between the National Crime Squad and the Colombian authorities. Scotland Yard ran a parallel inquiry into the money laundering side of the business.
The linked investigations led to 60 arrests and the seizure of £3.5m in cash, as well as the 645kg of cocaine.
Details of the cocaine network could not be revealed until the end of a slew of linked cases involving more than 30 people.
These restrictions were lifted when the last of the suspects admitted, at Southwark Crown Court, an offence of helping another to retain the benefits of drug trafficking.
Rare catch
The masterminds were both from Pereira in Colombia and arrived in the UK in 1990, being granted indefinite leave to remain after claiming asylum.
The authorities estimate that their cartel, at its peak, was bringing a tonne of cocaine into the country a year with a value of £25m.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said those who ran the drugs industry were "very rarely caught".
"This is because they pay other people to carry out the dangerous work where an arrest is more likely," he said.
"Their fingerprints are not found on the drug packaging, no telephone is shown to have made relevant calls, nothing incriminating is found in their homes.
"Others carry out their tasks. Meanwhile they make enormous profits from this foul trade."
Other convictions
Other members of the ring to be sentenced include Wimar de Jesus Ospina Castano, 35, of Tottenham, north London and Jose Manuel Rojes-Pineda, 35, of Rotherhithe, south east London, each jailed for four years in May last year for money laundering.
A raid on a lorry in Thurrock that recovered 72kg of cocaine led to the jailing of William Ruiz-Henao, 33 - Jesus Anibal's younger brother - of east London, and Ramon Navarro, 39, from Almeira in Spain, jailed for 16 years and 18 years respectively for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Roque Garcia-Martinez, 31, also from Almeira, and Ivan Garcia Ospina, 31, of Haringay, north London, were jailed for 13 and 16 years respectively for the same offence.
The parallel investigations have also led to the admission of offences or conviction of 26 other people.
Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4358062.stm)
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