Four men from a UK-based drugs gang have been jailed in England for smuggling large quantities of drugs through Belfast to Limerick, Leitrim, Wicklow and other parts of the country.
Anthony Terry, 49 from Wolverhampton, was head of the organised crime group.
He organised the importation of €1.9m worth of cocaine from the Netherlands to England, and then across by ferry to Northern Ireland.
Officers from the National Crime Agency seized the drugs, which had been hidden in fuel tanks transported within a van, when it arrived at Belfast port in February 2021.
Terry was working with 63-year-old Michael Collis from Wolverhampton, who drove the drugs from the Netherlands.
Two other drivers, 34-year-old Joshpal Singh Kothiria, also from Wolverhampton, and 39-year-old Mohammed Omar Khan, from Birmingham, were used to supply the drugs to customers in Ireland.
The group used the encrypted messaging service Encrochat, but were targeted by gardaí, the PSNI and the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The gang collected 17.5kg of cocaine in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020 and delivered some to the UK, before bringing the rest to Co Wicklow.
At the same time, 10kg of cannabis was vacuum-packed in the UK and taken to Co Leitrim.
A couple of weeks later, another 18kg of cocaine was collected in the Netherlands, 10kg of which was distributed the UK, with the remaining 8kg delivered to dealers in Ireland.
Another drug run captured on Encrochat occurred between 26 May and 3 June 2020, when the gang delivered a load of cannabis from Leicestershire to Ireland.
The drugs were shipped through Northern Ireland and driven south while under surveillance by National Crime Agency officers, the PSNI and gardaí.
The gang delivered another drug shipment to Limerick in September 2020.
All four men were jailed today.
Gang leader Terry was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Khan to 13 years, Collis to 12-and-a-half years and Kothiria to three years.
NCA Branch Commander Mick Pope said: "These criminals were determined to smuggle drugs into the UK and onwards to the Republic of Ireland. They did not care about the geography of their crimes when in pursuit of pure profit.
"They used the road and ferry networks to take their drugs across the Irish Sea, hoping to avoid detection by taking advantage of the common travel area and border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
"This case demonstrates perfectly how the NCA works with partners to tackle cross-border threats between the UK and Ireland, and we will continue do all we can to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups impacting on local communities."
