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| Drugs baron jailed over £1m plot | Drugs baron jailed over £1m plot |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| Drugs baron Curtis Warren has been jailed for 13 years after plotting to import £1m of cannabis into Jersey. | Drugs baron Curtis Warren has been jailed for 13 years after plotting to import £1m of cannabis into Jersey. |
| Warren planned to flood the island with drugs brought from Amsterdam but was foiled by a police operation. | |
| The 46-year-old, from Liverpool, was found guilty at Jersey's Royal Court in October of conspiring to import drugs. | |
| Five other men, who worked with Warren on the plot, are also being sentenced. Police used hidden cameras and put bugs in cars to catch the gang. | Five other men, who worked with Warren on the plot, are also being sentenced. Police used hidden cameras and put bugs in cars to catch the gang. |
| John Welsh, 43, from Liverpool, James O'Brien, 45, of Glasgow, Jason Woodward, 22, of Dartford, Kent, Paul Hunt, 27, and Oliver Lucas, 23, both of Jersey, had all denied a charge of conspiring to import drugs. | John Welsh, 43, from Liverpool, James O'Brien, 45, of Glasgow, Jason Woodward, 22, of Dartford, Kent, Paul Hunt, 27, and Oliver Lucas, 23, both of Jersey, had all denied a charge of conspiring to import drugs. |
| Interpol's most wanted | Interpol's most wanted |
| Warren appeared via video link from the UK for his sentencing, making him the first criminal to be sentenced using the video technology in the island's Royal Court. | Warren appeared via video link from the UK for his sentencing, making him the first criminal to be sentenced using the video technology in the island's Royal Court. |
| He was once Interpol's most wanted trafficker and is the only known drugs dealer to have appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List. | He was once Interpol's most wanted trafficker and is the only known drugs dealer to have appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List. |
| Prosecutor Howard Sharp had earlier asked the court to impose the sentence of 13 years, saying it was the biggest drug trafficking case ever to come before the courts in Jersey. | |
| He said: "Warren is a prolific drugs trafficker who has operated at the highest levels of the international drugs trade." | |
| Advocate Stephen Baker, defending Warren, had said it was a "half-baked and hopeless" conspiracy. | |
| "They couldn't raise the cash, they didn't get the drugs," he told the hearing. | |
| The police bugged public telephones and used surveillance cameras | |
| "I ask you not to impose a sentence that crushes him." | |
| The practice in Jersey is for Judge Sir Richard Tucker to sentence after consultation with a "superior number" of jurats. | |
| Mr Tucker said: "It's believed to be the largest ever importation to come before this court. | |
| "The reason the conspiracy did not come to fruition was not because it was abandoned but because of intervention of the police. | |
| "Warren has been shown to be the mastermind." | |
| During the two-week trial earlier this year, the court heard how the gang planned to buy cannabis in Amsterdam and bring it into an isolated cove in Jersey by boat in 2007. | |
| Drugs often fetch a higher price in Jersey than in other jurisdictions. | Drugs often fetch a higher price in Jersey than in other jurisdictions. |
| David Warcup, acting chief officer of the states of Jersey police, said: "We've been very successful in working with customs and other agencies, as this operation has done, and been able to work right across Europe with other police forces. | David Warcup, acting chief officer of the states of Jersey police, said: "We've been very successful in working with customs and other agencies, as this operation has done, and been able to work right across Europe with other police forces. |
| "This shows we can be very successful - we will find you and we will prosecute you." | "This shows we can be very successful - we will find you and we will prosecute you." |