Four members of an organized crime group have been convicted after trying to smuggle 139 kilograms of cocaine into the UK hidden in a shipment of bananas. But how did the scheme of this criminal group work?
The container had arrived from Ecuador and was checked at the Port of London, Gateway. A few days later, Robert Ball, who was later found to be acting on behalf of an Albanian organized crime group, contacted the shipping line to ask them for four containers, including one he thought contained the drugs.
Ball, 59, from Cheshire, organized a haulage company to pick up and transfer the containers to a storage company in Coventry. These movements were observed by NCA officers.
According to British media , Ball, along with associates Florjan Ibra, Mirgent Shahu and Arman Kaviani, arrived a few days later on April 15, 2022. Ball and Shahu gave directions to Kaviani and Ibra in the storage yard.
They opened the truck using a crowbar and began to unload packages they believed contained drugs, but as they did so the NCA and police officers swooped in to arrest them. Kaviani and Ibra tried to escape, but were caught.
All four men were later charged with cocaine importation offences. Ball and Shah were convicted by a jury at Warwick Crown Court on May 26 this year, while Ibra and Kaviani pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
In the same court, Ball and Shah were sentenced to 18 years in prison each, while Ibra was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison and Kaviani to 12 years and nine months in the previous sessions. (A2 Televizion)
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