A major drugs gang using 'ghost warehouses' and diverted lorries to smuggle large quantities of cocaine and heroin into Britain has been dismantled after police uncovered a supply network capable of flooding UK streets with Class A drugs.
Five gang members have now been jailed for a combined 84 years after police dismantled what investigators described as a sophisticated operation importing huge quantities of narcotics from mainland Europe under the cover of legitimate haulage routes.
By the time detectives closed in, officers had seized more than 328 kilograms of cocaine and 62 kilograms of heroin with an estimated wholesale value approaching £8 million.
Investigators believe that was only a fraction of the true scale of the operation, which may have moved more than a tonne of Class A drugs into Britain.
The gang exploited ordinary HGV deliveries entering the UK from Europe.
Lorries arriving at ports would abandon their approved routes and pull into covert 'ghost warehouses' hidden in industrial estates, first in Slough and later in Daventry.
Inside, massive quantities of drugs were secretly unloaded before the trucks continued on their journeys, leaving almost no outward sign that criminal cargo had ever been removed.
Detectives say the warehouses acted as secret transfer hubs where drugs were unpacked, repackaged and sent out across Britain using coded messages, passwords and pre-arranged collection points.
Five men have been jailed for a combined total of 84 years for their roles in a major organised crime group that imported and supplied Class A drugs worth millions of pounds into London
Over the course of the investigation, officers seized more than 300 kilograms of cocaine and more than 60 kilograms of heroin, with an estimated wholesale value of almost £8 million pounds in total
Robert Francuz, 43, of Heath Park House, Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead was sentenced to 21 years
Andrzej Walas, 48, of Hubert Road, Slough was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment
Men were allegedly flown in from Poland specifically to work the operation, making rapid trips in hire cars to move wholesale quantities of drugs onwards to dealers.
The investigation began in July 2024 with what initially looked like a routine surveillance operation in Slough.
Officers watched suspicious boxes being transferred between vehicles linked to the network.
Soon after, police intercepted a shipment containing five kilos of cocaine and 25 kilos of heroin, an early breakthrough that investigators say exposed the extraordinary scale of the conspiracy.
What followed was months of surveillance, phone analysis and cross-border intelligence work.
Then, on August 6, detectives struck, raiding a warehouse in Slough after monitoring the arrival of an HGV from continental Europe.
Officers found 103kg of cocaine and 37kg of heroin hidden inside.
Evidence later suggested the warehouse had already been used repeatedly as CCTV footage and mobile phone data pointed to at least ten separate importations in just three months, each involving huge quantities of drugs.
Jagjit Singh, 30, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months
Jamie Allen, 29, of Easterton Croft, Birmingham was sentenced to 13 years
Dawid Gasiewski, 32, of no fixed address but from Kingston was sentenced to 14 years and 4 months
Days later, police linked the same network to another 20kg cocaine seizure in Leicester.
But even after suffering heavy losses, the gang regrouped as detectives say ringleaders Andrzej Walas and Robert Francuz simply established a second 'ghost warehouse', shifting operations to Daventry and attempting to restart the pipeline.
On April 7, officers watched a lorry arriving from the Netherlands unexpectedly divert from its supposed destination in Birmingham and pull into the warehouse.
Officers say driver Dawid Gasiewski had unloaded cargo before Jagjit Singh arrived at the site.
When detectives stormed the warehouse, they discovered another staggering haul of around 300 kilograms of cocaine, with bricks of drugs found both inside the building and linked vehicles.
Jamie Allen was arrested shortly afterwards. Walas and Francuz were detained the next day. Detectives later discovered attempts to conceal their roles through the use of false identities.
At Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, the men received lengthy prison terms: Andrzej Walas was sentenced to 26 years, Robert Francuz to 21 years, Jamie Allen to 13 years, Dawid Gasiewski to 14 years and four months, and Jagjit Singh to 10 years and six months.
Detective Constable Leon Ure, who led the inquiry, said: 'This case has centred on a criminal venture planned on a gigantic commercial scale which would have likely caused violence and destruction on our streets.
'These offenders organised a significant drug line into London and the surrounding counties over a prolonged period of time.
'If people wonder why we are so relentless in going after those involved in drug supply, it's because this criminality fuels violence and rips families and communities apart.
'We are very grateful to our partners for their assistance. Our coordinated response has resulted in the disruption of a major threat to public safety and has taken this group of criminals off our streets.'