UK amphetamine gang jailed for £10m-a-month operation

Men who ran what's thought to be the largest amphetamine factory ever found in the UK, have been jailed.

The operation was capable of producing drugs with an estimated street value of £10m-a-month, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Gang members underwent chemistry training in order to run the site, in Warwickshire.

Keith Davis was jailed for five years and three months, and Andrew Gurney received six years and six months.

An investigation began after text messages were obtained by French police during the penetration of the encrypted phone network Encrochat.

The 12-day trial at Kingston Crown Court heard Gurney, of Middle Meadow Avenue, Quinton, Birmingham, converted an outbuilding into the drugs lab in Henley-in-Arden, said the NCA.

The 51-year-old was known as "The Geek" due to his specialist electrical installation and plumbing skills, it said.

Davis, 62, of Brayfield Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire was paid to run the site capable of producing 400kg of amphetamine per month, the court had heard.

The drugs were distributed to dealers in the West Midlands, London and Kent from the Ullenhall Lane site, close to Redditch in Worcestershire.

Work started on the building in March 2020 and it began producing drugs in May of that year, said the agency.

The "hazardous" site was raided on 27 April 2021 after plumes of noxious fumes billowed from the outbuilding.

NCA branch commander Matt McMillan said the inquiry "painstakingly identified that an unassuming outbuilding in rural Warwickshire was in fact one of the largest drugs laboratories ever found in the UK."

"Searching and closing down the lab, which was a complex and risky operation, was a great example of multi-agency cooperation to protect the public," he said.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Davis was found guilty of conspiracy to supply ketamine and cannabis, conspiracy to produce amphetamine and money laundering.

At the same hearing, Gurney was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine and money laundering.

The crime gang's ringleader John Keet, 41, of Middle Meadow, Chalfont St Giles, invested profits from a career dealing cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines into building a managing the site, said the crime agency.

At an earlier hearing he admitted a range of charges, including the production, supply and importation of drugs, and is due to be sentenced in August.

Elliott Walker, 49, of Hither Farm Road, Kidbrooke, south London, was an associate of Keet and purchased specialist equipment for the lab, said the NCA.

Walker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce amphetamine on 17 September last year and was jailed for six years last December.

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