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Five Men Jailed Over 'Ghost Warehouse' Drugs Network

Police say the convictions follow roughly £8 million of seizures and evidence that the ring used diverted lorries and covert storage sites that may have moved more than one tonne of Class A drugs.

Overview

  • The five men were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on 21 May to a combined 84 years in prison with individual terms ranging from about 10½ to 26 years.
  • Officers recovered roughly 328 kilograms of cocaine and 62 kilograms of heroin during the inquiry, a haul the Metropolitan Police estimate has a wholesale value near £8 million.
  • Detectives say the gang hid shipments by diverting legitimate HGVs into so-called 'ghost warehouses' where drugs were offloaded, repackaged and sent on using coded messages and pre-arranged collection points.
  • The Met led a months‑long, multi‑agency probe that began in July 2024 and produced major seizures after a Slough raid in August 2024 and a Daventry interception in April 2025.
  • Investigators warned the quantities seized may be only a fraction of the total supply, they continue to pursue connected suspects, and they say disrupting the network should reduce the wholesale flow that fuels street-level crime.