IT'S was the biggest seizure of drugs in the history of Hampshire Constabulary and the gang responsible have been jailed for a total of almost 50 years.

Headed up by Fareham man Paul Ingall and pensioner Wilfred Travers the organised crime group was responsible for £11m worth of class A and class B drugs supplied between Hampshire and Liverpool, in what they nicknamed "fishing days".

It was a "sophisticated" drugs conspiracy on an almost "industrial scale".

At the southern end was operated from residential homes in Hedge End and Fareham, as well as units on industrial estates in Hedge End and Warsash.

During just one month of the conspiracy, which spans from June and November last year, the gang had 64kilos of cocaine in stock - a value of around £2.5m.

It comes after a major police operation which saw millions of pounds worth of drugs and hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash was recovered from numerous addresses and several vehicles including a caravan raided by specialist officers.

Daily Echo: Cash was also recovered during the raids

 

Daily Echo: Police found cocaine stashed in suitcases

 

Paul Ingall, from Fareham and Adams Przybycin, from Eastleigh, headed up the southern end of the operation, cutting the import strength cocaine, selling it on a commercial scale and distributing it others, such as Alireza Jaffer, from Fareham, to sell on.

The Hedge End home of Matthew Bovington was used to store drugs and cash. Two cars owned by Ingall, packed full of drugs were parked outside his house.

Daily Echo:

Travers, 69, headed operations in Merseyside and used the home of his close friend, Eric Bourne to park a caravan which was packed full of drugs and cash. 

Judge Sarah Munro said: "You are all here today to be sentenced for your varying roles in drugs supply, the scale of which is vast and is hard to exaggerate."

When sentencing Ingall, who told probation officers he had to quit his courier job because he was so busy with the drug conspiracy, travelling up to Merseyside three times a week and London twice a week, she added: "I see your role as more significant than Mr Travers.

"You were very actively involved in the adulteration of cocaine and involved in the wholesale supply of three other drugs in high quantities.

"You were up to your neck in a very lucrative drug supply business."

Travers, 69, from Merseyside pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs cocaine and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Paul Ingall, 35, of New Road, Fareham, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to supply cocaine and the conspiracy to supply Amphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis and was jailed for 14 years.

Adam Przybycin, 38, formerly of Toynbee Road, Eastleigh, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Cocaine, Amphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis and was jailed for 13 years.

Bourne, 65, from Merseyside found guilty after trial of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs cocaine and was jailed for three years.

Alireza Jaffer, 30, of Potters Avenue, Fareham pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs cocaine and faces six years behind bars.

Matthew Bovington, 32, of Shamblehurst Lane South, Hedge End was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs cannabis and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Detective Sergeant Matt Browne, said: “This case saw us seize an unprecedented amount of drugs for Hampshire Constabulary; with a street value of approximately 11 million pounds.  

“Travers, Ingall and Przybycin were making exchanges of up to 4 kilos of pure cocaine at a time in broad daylight in public places for vast sums of cash.  

"They used specially encrypted mobile telephones to communicate with each other to avoid detection by the authorities.

"It all sounds like something out of a film and it is hard to believe that this sort of crime was taking place in Hedge-End, a usually peaceful part of Hampshire.  

"Its clear to me that some of these defendants started out at a much lower level in the drugs world, but the result of this was them getting in to debt with their suppliers and their only means of paying this off was by getting involved in even more serious criminality which has ultimately resulted in lengthy prison sentences.

“Throughout the investigation and court process we worked with a number of officers and staff from different units across the force, as well as with colleagues from Lancashire Police.  

"A number of premises’ were searched, including those in Hedge-End, Fareham and Merseyside.

“As part of Operation Fortress, we’re committed to freeing our communities of drugs and the misery drugs bring.  

If you have any information about drugs in your community, please contact us; the more we know, the more we can do about it.”

Operation Fortress is a campaign involving police and other agencies to reduce the harm of drug-related violence.

One of the aims is to restrict the supply of drugs and officers are keen to hear from anyone who is concerned about illegal drugs or drug-related crime in their neighbourhood. 

The things to look out for are as follows: 

  • A sudden increase in visitors to a house or flat and people only staying for a very short time
  • Short exchanges between small groups of people at or close to a flat or house
  • Residents leaving a flat or house on numerous occasions throughout the day and returning a short time later
  • People loitering in an area and using their mobile phones frequently
  • New-looking or hire cars parked outside a house or flat that wouldn’t normally be there, and being driven by somebody that you wouldn’t normally associate with driving that style of car.

If you have any concerns, call police on 101 or 999 if a crime is in progress.