Eight men have been sentenced to over 50 years in jail for utilizing a village butcher’s shop as a hub for selling and storing class A drugs. This criminal operation involved trafficking £1 million worth of cocaine from the West Midlands to Monmouthshire.
Operating under the guise of a butcher’s shop in Sedbury, Gloucestershire, the defendants had been storing and selling cocaine along with other drugs. All of the defendants pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday.
According to Detective Inspector Matt Phillips from the serious and organized crime unit at Gloucestershire Constabulary, the drugs discovered in the butcher’s shop were “hiding in plain sight.”
The authorities seized over 5kg of cocaine, 4kg of amphetamine, 10kg of cutting agents, and £108,600 in cash, although these figures are believed to be just the tip of the iceberg, as the drug operation had been ongoing for a significant period of time.
Prosecutor Christine Hart explained that Shane Tyrrell, a butcher from Sedbury, Gloucestershire, along with Richard Lawrence from Llandogo, Monmouthshire, were involved in the unlawful operation starting from February 2020.