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NRI father-son duo jailed in major UK drugs scam

Last Updated 26 April 2010, 12:43 IST

Jogendranath Rajcoomar, 57, and his son Sunil Rajcoomar, 25, are among seven drug operators – who were convicted and sentenced at the Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracies to supply and import amphetamine and cannabis.
The gang was led by Anthony Spencer, who has been in and out of prison for over years for drugs, firearms, fraud and theft.

The network was uncovered following a joint operation between the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Warwickshire Police, the West Midlands Police and the Dutch Police.
Coventry-based Jogendranath Rajcoomar, who was a former prison governor, provided financial and logistical support for the network.

He made large cash deposits into his accounts to fund Spencer's travel to and from Holland. One of the safes was found in his garden.A large number of mobile phones and SIM cards were also recovered. He was sentenced to three years nine months.
Sunil Rajcoomar was involved in the movement and stashing of drugs in the UK and Holland.

After receiving Western Union payments from his father, he paid a month’s rent on the farm being used in Amsterdam.He was regularly seen with Spencer. He was sentenced to two years.Others sentenced were Christopher Pollock, Michael McGlinchey, John Mitchell, Mark Adderley and Stephen Lismore.The jail terms imposed on the convicted totalled 44 years.

SOCA Deputy Director Andy Sellers said: "These are career criminals who wanted to make a lot of money through drug trafficking with no regard for the harm they would cause communities and individuals.

They spent a long time planning how they were going to flood the UK with vast quantities of drugs but we were one step ahead of them. We were watching their every move and the evidence obtained was so strong they had no choice but to plead guilty". SOCA sources said Spencer and his criminal associates were under surveillance for months. Officers watched meetings at locations in Coventry, Sheffield, Kent and Amsterdam.

They saw the gang burying purpose-built safes which could store up to 140 kilos of drugs, filmed a cash handover, and watched as drugs changed hands.
Intelligence sharing with the Dutch Police led to the discovery of a farm in Zwanenburg, Amsterdam, which was being used as a drugs warehouse, and a flat in Ijplein, Amsterdam, that officers described as 'an Aladdin's cave' of drugs paraphernalia, including a pill making machine.

Spencer and the network's Dutch contingent were arrested in January 2009 when a team of heavily armed officers used a bulldozer to get into the farm.One hundred kilos of amphetamine and 50 kilos of cannabis were seized.Spencer was extradited to the UK in April 2009. At this point, officers moved in to arrest the UK end of the operation. They recovered the cement mixer from a caravan in Coventry.Four buried safes were found - two at Spencer's home, one at a derelict site in Nuneaton, and one in the garden of a house in Coventry.

Evidence indicated that the gang was planning to significantly increase the scale of their operation. Early success in bringing amphetamine and cannabis into the UK had led to considerable investment in the logistics for transporting, storing and distributing.

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(Published 26 April 2010, 12:43 IST)

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