In a strange way, a criminal group tried to import a large quantity of heroin into the United Kingdom. The huge quantity of 420 kilograms was in liquid form inside juice bottles that were transported by a container ship.
A father and his son were also involved in this importation of drugs, who were sentenced to small prison sentences with suspension because they simply helped the criminal group import the heroin into the United Kingdom in 2023. The shipment of approximately 420 kilograms of Afghan heroin was transported in an unusual way: After dissolving it in pomegranate juice, they bottled it in packaging and sent it to England inside a container.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency stated that the illegal cargo was found by Border Force officers in a container at the port of Southampton. Some of the bottles were normal and contained only juice, but others did not. The liquid pomegranate juice is usually purple, but turns red if it contains heroin, according to the NCA.
The container was then transported to an industrial facility in Birmingham with the police monitoring it in the hope of catching the importers red-handed. NCA officers arrested three suspects who appeared and began unloading the 2.6-ton load of bottled pomegranate juice. A fourth suspect was arrested later at a residence in Birmingham.
“Drugs are inextricably linked with organized crime groups and the use of serious violence, which can often spread by destroying the lives of innocent victims and their families,” said NCA Branch Commander Derek Evans in a statement.
The suspects Colin Bartlett, 54, and Lee Bartlett, 30, were convicted for participating in the activities of an organized crime group but were acquitted of the separate charge of drug trafficking, as they only provided assistance to the group. They were given sentences of 24 months and 18 months respectively, suspended for a period of two years.
