Two pensioners who tried to smuggle £267,000 of
drugs hidden inside frozen chicken were given away by the smell of rotting meat.
Former
police officer Michael Kinkaid, 72 and Anthony Wright, 76, were jailed
for seven years each after being found with 267 kilos of cannabis at an
industrial unit at Laindon, Essex.
The operation to move the
drugs mirrored the infamous Los Polos set-up in hit US television show
Breaking Bad in which drugs were imported inside buckets of fried
chicken.
But when bungling Kinkaid and Wright unpacked the sealed
wraps of cannabis resin smuggled from Spain they failed to clean them,
leaving traces of chicken on the packs.
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Jailed: Former meat dealer Anthony Wright jailed for smuggling cannabis worth more than £250k inside frozen chickens
The smell became so appalling that neighbouring businesses
contacted police with concerns that there might have been a rotting body
at the industrial
When
local officers broke into investigate they followed the smell to 89
blocks of cannabis resin hidden under polythene sheeting on November 27,
2013.
Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious and Organised
Crime Unit launched an investigation and arrested Kinkaid and Wright who
rented the unit to store chicken imported from Spain.
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Caught: Traces of meat were left on the cannabis resin
Kinkaid of Wickford, Essex, and retired meat dealer Wright of Laindon, denied any involvement in the importation of drugs.
But the pair were found guilty of possessing cannabis with intent to supply after a six-day trial in October.
The men were sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Friday.
The court heard how the pair refused to name other members of the operational set-up because of "misguided loyalty".
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Discovered: The men were found with more than £250k worth of drugs
Sarah Vine, prosecuting, said: "There are a number of factors
which certainly point to these defendants having a significant role,
operational or management, within a chain."
Recorder Jeffrey Yearwood said: "The offences for which each of you have been convicted are particularly serious.
"Serious,
not only because of the nature of the drug involved the quantity
involved but for the impact that it had on the public who used those
drugs and the possible damage to their health."
Afterwards
Detective Constable Bob Evans, of Essex Police, said: "These men were
caught because they failed to clean the sealed packs of cannabis resin
after they were separated from the frozen chickens.
"The packs of cannabis resin were then hidden under polythene sheeting.
"As
the smell became worse other business in the area became concerned and
reported an odour of what was described as rotting flesh coming from the
unit.
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Stench: The smell was so bad neighbours mistook it for rotting corpses
"Attending officers confirmed that the smell coming from the
unit was 'dreadful' and entry was forced to the unit due to a concern
for life.
"The resin was contained within heat sealed packages and appeared to be covered in a blood-like detritus.
"This
investigation involved the assistance of both the National Crime Agency
and UK Border Force resulting in enquires being carried out at both a
national and international level.
"During the course of the
investigation both Kinkaid and Wright through some form of misguided
loyalty failed to identify other parties involved in the importation of
these drugs."
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