A man who used his Kia Sportage car to courier £1.6million of drugs has been jailed for 10 years.
Albert Hines, 58, was caught following a covert operation by Metropolitan Police officers who saw him entering a self-storage facility in West Moseley, Surrey.
Detectives observed him struggling to carry a large cardboard box, which he then placed into the boot of his Kia on October 10, 2022.
The following day, Hines met Anthony Clinton, 60, in Woodfield Road, Hounslow at 1.30am and handed over 21kg of ketamine.
Around 4.30am, Clinton was stopped by uniformed officers on the A11 near his home in Cromes Place, Badersfield, Norwich.
Norfolk Police discovered a cardboard box with the packages in the boot.
Met officers then swooped to arrest Hines next to his car in Pidwick Close, Hounslow.
Upon searching that vehicle, police seized three boxes from the boot, each containing three large bags with 5.5kg of ketamine.
A further box had two kilo blocks of cocaine worth £50,000. Two knuckle dusters were found in the glovebox.
A further search was conducted at the storage facility and officers seized a money counting machine and cash.
Over £12,000 was confiscated from Hines’ home address and the self-storage unit.
At Isleworth Crown Court, Hines pleading guilty to suppling Class A and B drugs, possession of an offensive weapon and fraud.
Clinton was sentenced to five years and seven months’ imprisonment on May 5 at Norwich Crown Court for drug supply offences.
Detective Chief Inspector Glenn Butler, from the Met’s Specialist Crime, said: “Ketamine can cause serious health damage to users which can include increase in heart rate, affect memory and cause liver or bladder damage.
“Significant proactive work has been undertaken by teams across Specialist Crime and has seen a substantial increase in ketamine seizures in the past year.
“Over a tonne of ketamine has been seized which is a significant increase from previous years.
“Ketamine is a controlled drug that can also have fatal consequences and causes harm to our communities.”
DCI Butler continued: “The Met is determined to target those individuals involved in the supply chain, like Hines, who has received a significant sentence for supplying large quantities of ketamine.”
