NCA expose drug trafficking operation run through Scunthorpe haulage company

NCA expose drug trafficking operation run through Scunthorpe haulage company

An organised crime group that used a haulage company as a front to smuggle millions of pounds of cocaine into the UK has been dismantled by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Three men have now been jailed as part of the extensive NCA investigation that began in February 2023 when a lorry was stopped at the port of Killingholme, Lincolnshire.

Pictured: Ryan Dobb-Clarke, Peter Crunkhum and Daryl Sellars

Border Force officers searched the vehicle, which had travelled across from Hook of Holland by ferry, and discovered 290 kilos of cocaine hidden among sliced mushrooms.

The 35-year-old driver Darryl Sellars was jailed for 13-and-a-half years last June after pleading guilty to importing class A drugs.

Sellars and his co-conspirators Ryan Dobb-Clarke and Peter Crunkhurn, both aged 30, worked for 'Merc Trans Ltd', a Scunthorpe-based haulage company.

Dobb-Clarke, the firm's operations manager, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Sellars also pleaded guilty to the two additional charges, and last month a jury found lorry driver Crunkhurn guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

All three men were sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court today (21 October).

Dobb-Clarke was jailed for 18 years, and Crunkhurn received 12 years. Sellars was sentenced to an additional 10 years, to be served concurrent with his existing sentence.

The NCA's investigation found that Sellars and Crunkhurn made seven other lorry trips to the Netherlands and back in the weeks before the 290-kilo cocaine seizure.

These journeys were orchestrated by Dobb-Clarke.

Once the lorries returned to the UK, either Sellars or Crunkhurn would then drive from north Lincolnshire to south Wales in another vehicle to deliver the drugs for onward supply - again directed by Dobb-Clarke.

Sellars was tasked with the first drugs run from 15-17 January 2023, and the same method was used for following importations.

Vehicle tracking data obtained from the lorries by NCA investigators enabled them to trace the journeys.

On a subsequent trip, Crunkhurn boarded an overnight ferry to the Netherlands on 24 January before driving his lorry to the village of Kesteren the next day to pick up a legitimate load of cargo.

He then drove to Oud-Alblas, the same location Sellars made a stop at on 16 January, and remained there for just over half an hour. During this time, he made a series of calls to Dobb-Clarke.

NCA investigators believe drugs were loaded into the lorry at this location.

After arriving back in north Lincolnshire on the morning of 26 January, Crunkhurn immediately drove to south Wales in a Vauxhall Insignia.

As he travelled down, Dobb-Clarke arranged for drug dealers to meet Crunkhurn in Cardiff and Swansea to accept deliveries.

The NCA investigation linked Crunkhurn and Dobb-Clarke to the drugs courier operation being run through Merc Trans Ltd, and they were arrested in the months after Sellars was intercepted with the 290-kilo cocaine haul.

Their phones were seized and NCA investigators discovered WhatsApp messages sent by Dobb-Clarke referencing the drug importations alongside self-portrait photos in a small plane and a boat.

A message he sent to Crunkhurn read, "can you do Holland next week? Go Thursday night? So back Saturday morning in UK? I need answers mate please".

Julie Booker, NCA Branch Commander, said: "Dismantling the networks responsible for importing and distributing harmful drugs is a key part of the NCA's mission to protect the public from serious and organised crime.

"These men mistakenly thought they could hide their criminality behind a legitimate company, but our thorough investigation foiled their operation and put them before the courts.

"This investigation has prevented a huge amount of class A drugs reaching the UK county lines supply chain, where it would have fuelled violence and the exploitation of children and vulnerable adults."

21 October 2024