The moment boss of 'UK's biggest drug smuggling gang' knew the game was up

As he was bundled into a police van outside his Cheshire home, Paul Green knew the game was up. Known as 'The Big Fella', Green was the ringleader of an international crime gang responsible for the biggest drug smuggling operation the UK has ever seen.

The massive operation saw up to £7bn worth of cocaine, heroin and cannabis brought into the country hidden in lorries of fruit and vegetables. But Green's empire came crashing down when, in 2019, the National Crime Agency (NCA) swooped on his home in a dawn raid.

Video footage released by the NCA captures the moment Green, moments after being arrested, was led from his detached home on a cul-de-sac in Widnes, flanked by two officers.

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This week, he and other members of his gang received long jail sentences at the end of two lengthy trials at Manchester Crown Court for their part in the ‘unprecedented’ criminal conspiracy.

Police seized 450 kilos of heroin and cocaine and more than two tonnes of cannabis in lorries containing fruit and vegetables, with a total street value of £39.5m. Prosecutors said the seizures were just the tip of an 'extremely large iceberg'.

In reality the gang were responsible for at least £2bn-worth of drugs being imported, or as much as £7bn, offering a transport service for the British criminal underworld. It was the product of a complex criminal network in which arrangements were made for drugs hidden in ‘cover loads’, before being driven to the UK in lorries from the Netherlands.

Prosecutors said the shipments, which were then sent on to organised crime gangs up and down the country, were hidden in fresh produce because it was ‘impossible’ for customs to check every load.

The shipments were made using 'bogus' companies with names including Pot Fresh, Blackpool Fruit and Veg, Europroduce. Innocent haulage companies would then unwittingly transport the narcotics following contact with the ‘bogus’ firms.

Green, from Widnes, was the 'chief organiser' of the shipments alongside his fellow criminals who became 'experts' in importing the drugs. The gang later formed an 'alliance' with a Dutch crime gang to work together on drug importations. Barbara Rijnbout and Johannes Vesters were the leading figures on the continent.

Green, who drove expensive cars and had Rolex watches, portrayed himself as a successful company director but he had 'little or no legitimate income'. A ‘wheeler dealer’ who had once run hairdressers and a cleaning company, he was dubbed ‘the big fella’ by some of his fellow criminals.

When Green was arrested, officers recovered almost £10,000 in cash from his home. His bank statements showed he and his wife spent more than £26,000 on watches and jewellery in the previous six months.

Steven Martin, from Bolton, was Green's right hand man and 'finance guy', operating bank accounts and 'front' companies. A third 'principal organiser' was Muhammad Ovais, from Levenshulme, who was involved in the arrangement of 'front' companies.

Green has now been jailed for 32 years. Martin and Ovais were jailed for 28 years and 27 years respectively. The defendants sentenced in May at the end of the first trial, which lasted almost two years, were:

Paul Green, 59, of Widnes, Cheshire was sentenced to 32 years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of conspiring to import class A drugs, and four counts of conspiring to import class B drugs.

Oliver Penter, 41, of Gladstone Street, Stockport, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after he was found guilty of one count of conspiring to import class A drugs and one count of conspiring to import class B drugs.

Steven Martin, 52, of Chorley Old Road, Bolton, and Mohammed Ovais, 46, of Bournlea Avenue, Burnage, were both found guilty of two counts of conspiring to import class A drugs and two counts of conspiring to import class B drugs.

Martin was jailed for 28 years, and Ovais for 27 years.

Iftikhar Hussain, 50, of Upland Grove, Leeds, was found guilty of assisting the activities of an organised crime group. He was jailed for four years.

Russell Leonard, 47, of Grosmont Road, Kirkby, Merseyside, was found guilty of two counts of conspiring to import class A drugs and one count of conspiring to import class B drugs. He was sentenced to 24 years.

Alan Cumming, 54, of Litherland Road, Bootle, Merseyside, was found guilty of one count of conspiring to import class A drugs, and one count of conspiring to import class B drugs. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Barbara Rijnbout, 52, and Johannes Vesters, 54, both of IJsselstein in the Netherlands, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to import class A drugs and one count of conspiring to import class B drugs.

Rijnbout was sentenced to 18 years, and Vesters to 20 years.

Details of the case can now be reported, after a linked trial, which itself lasted nine months, concluded on Monday.

Two other members of the gang received suspended prison sentences while five others are due to be sentenced later this month.