Two men who smuggled £1.1m worth of cannabis into the UK have been jailed. Jack Pritchard and Matthew Hall were at the head of a racket to import large quantities of the drug from Spain into Cheshire.
The pair recruited others from Ellesmere Port as the recipients for the large number of cannabis orders placed with their supplier. In September 2020, four packages containing cannabis, all heading to addresses in Ellesmere Port, were intercepted by the UK Border Agency who then notified Cheshire Constabulary.
The following month officers executed searches at addresses on Heath Grove, Kronsbeck Avenue, Scotton Avenue, Tennyson Road, and Aldgate in Ellesmere Port and19 kilograms of cannabis was seized. An investigation was able to prove that at total of 95 kilograms of cannabis had been imported by the group with a potential street value of £1,117,640.
Pritchard and Hall were jailed for a combined total of six years following a hearing at Chester Crown Court. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to Import a Class B controlled drug with intent to evade a prohibition. Hall also pleaded guilty to offering to supply a Class A controlled drug (cocaine).
In a statement Cheshire Constabulary said: "Hall, aged 30, of Northern Rise in Great Sutton and Pritchard, aged 26, of Scotton Avenue in Little Sutton, were at the head of the operation and in charge of sourcing and importing large quantities of cannabis from Spain and then organising the onward supply of the cannabis in the UK."
Detective Constable Wellings said: "This was an extensive and complex investigation which clearly showed Pritchard and Hall as head members of a calculated plan to bring illegal drugs into Ellesmere Port. These men have a clear disregard for the law and I hope the sentences handed to them will provide reassurance to residents who have been affected by their actions.
"Drugs such as these have no place on our streets and by tackling Hall and Pritchard and seizing large quantities of illegal substances, we have been able to intervene and take these drugs off the streets of Ellesmere Port. I hpe this sends a clear message that drugs have no place in the town and we are committed to doing all we can to remove those involved in the supply of such drugs from our communities."
If you have information relating to drug activity taking place in your community, please report it via the website or anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 and Cheshire Constabulary will do the rest.
