Two serving British Army soldiers are facing possible prison terms after admitting offering to supply nearly a kilo of cannabis.
The men, who are part of the same military unit, were caught out in November 2023 when a cache of class B drugs worth around £10,000 was found.
Messages on encrypted app Signal between the pair then revealed they had discussed the sale of a ‘box’ of herbal cannabis.
One of the soldiers referred to handling the “strongest“ type of cannabis, and said of possible customers: “If they want a sample, we can do that.“
When police arrested one of the soldiers, he phoned his wife and instructed her to get rid of a bag, Westminster magistrates court heard.
But waiting officers armed with a drone caught the wife on camera as she stashed the holdall of cannabis in a nearby hedgerow.
On Thursday, the two soldiers appeared in the dock to plead guilty to the charges they faced.
The hearing was conducted in a closed court due to national security concerns, with the public excluded but members of the media allowed to watch.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ordered that the soldiers – referred to as Defendant X and Defendant Y – could not be named and they stood in the dock behind a screen.
The judge also agreed that the unit they serve in should not be publicly identified on security grounds.
Both soldiers pleaded guilty to making an offer to supply cannabis in November 2023. Defendant X admitted possessing around 33 grams of cannabis resin, while Defendant Y accepted he had been caught with 996 grams of cannabis.
Prosecutor Frederick Hookway told the court the batch of cannabis in the holdall had a street value of around £10,000.
“It is a case involving them jointly making an offer to supply cannabis“, said the prosecutor.
“There were messages between these two defendants where they appeared to discuss selling quantities of cannabis.“
Mr Hookway said Defendant Y was arrested in Herefordshire, and he asked to make a phone call to his wife.
“He was allowed to make the call and promptly instructed her to dispose of a bag, and not to ask any questions“, he told the court.
“Police were simultaneously monitoring Y’s home address via a drone.
“This provided a video stream which showed Y’s wife leave the property after having received the call from Y at the Police station. She was carrying a holdall which she then attempted to hide in the hedgerow. “
DNA from both defendants was recovered from the holdall.
Mr Hookway said there was reference in the Signal messages to a “box“ of drugs, understood to refer to a kilo, talk of a price of £8950, and “some other messages where Defendant X was exploring selling cannabis with unknown others“.
On November 25, 2023, Defendant X messaged his colleague on Signal to say “Its 5k a box up here going rate. “
Defendant Y replied saying: “Cali (a strain of herbal cannabis) is 3200 a box…Stop flapping and stop thinking it’s worth more than it is.“
“The obvious inference from these messages is the defendants have a quantity of cannabis which they are attempting to sell“, said Mr Hookway, before pointing to a reference in the messages to sell “on tick“, meaning on credit.
Defendant X also admitted possession of seven fake Rolex receipts which had been used in fraud.
The prosecutor said investigators found seven receipts which appeared to be from a jewellers in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Each receipt was identical, showing the purchase of a Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41MM Jubilee for $6,500 purchase of a Rolex, with Defendant X named as the buyer and a fake name for a seller.
“Defendant X accepted the receipts were fake“, said Mr Hookway.
When entering his guilty plea, Defendant X said he bought what he thought was a genuine Rolex watch, and generated the fake receipt when he was attempting to sell it on.
The court was told neither soldier has any previous criminal convictions, although Defendant X was cautioned at 18-years-old for possession of an air weapon in a public place.
Judge Goldspring freed both soldiers on unconditional bail until a sentencing hearing at a later date.
He said the men will be sentenced in a closed court, and warned them that a prison sentence is possible.
“Custody is very much in play“, he said.
