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Pair jailed over international drug trade conspiracy

Kent Police Samuel Dunne and Keenan Hall-Shelton photographed by Kent PoliceKent Police
Samuel Dunne (left) and Keenan Hall-Shelton were involved in the operation to smuggle cannabis into the UK and Spain from the US

Two men have been jailed after tons of cannabis were hidden inside shipments of children's toys and clothes.

Samuel Dunne and Keenan Hall-Shelton were members of a Kent-based organised crime group who smuggled the class B drug into the UK and Spain from the US between February 2022 and April 2023.

More than 500 vacuum-sealed packages containing the drug were seized bound for addresses in Medway and north Kent. The total estimated amount was 3-4 tons of cannabis.

Kent Police said the operation in its entirety was worth at least £10 million per year to those involved.

Dunne was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after pleading guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on 5 June to conspiracy to import cannabis and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

Hall-Shelton was sentenced to seven years after admitting the same offences, in addition to possessing criminal property, possessing an offensive weapon and an unrelated theft of a bicycle.

Kent Police A package of cannabis Kent Police
More than 500 packages were seized in total, estimated to contain around 3-4 tons of cannabis

The investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate established Dunne, 30, previously from Whitstable, was head of the crime group who employed Hall-Shelton, 32, from Sevenoaks.

Police said Dunne co-ordinated the activities from properties in Spain and Dubai but returned to the UK in April 2023 and was arrested at a family address in Greenhithe.

Officers also arrested Hall-Shelton who had been linked to a shipping container in the Gravesend area where officers had located the same type of cannabis packages that had previously been seized, as well as just under 2.5kg of cocaine.

Det Sgt Jon Saxby of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said Dunne was "head of an organised crime group who made huge sums of money" from the operation.

He said: "Keenan Hall-Shelton also played a significant role as the custodian of the illegal substances that were being sold by the group, and is now paying the price for his illegal activities."

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