THREE men have been jailed after £2.6m worth of cannabis was found hidden in mattresses in Cheshire.
Weijei Chen and brothers John Kinsella and Luke Kinsella were sentenced to a combined total of more than 17 years after pleading guilty to drugs offences.
"Illegal drugs are a blight on our community and these three men played pivotal roles in bringing millions of pounds worth of drugs into the country," said Detective Sergeant Tom Ashton of Cheshire Constabulary.
"As such, I welcome the lengthy custodial sentence handed down to Chen, John Kinsella, and Luke Kinsella."
From left: Weijei Chen, John Kinsella and Luke Kinsella (Images: Cheshire Constabulary)On Monday, January 15, CCTV captured a number of vehicles arriving at a storage unit in Tan House Lane, Widnes.
A black Audi A3 parked up, which was being driven by John Kinsella, while Luke Kinsella and Chen were passengers.
A few minutes later, a HGV entered the site with a trailer towing an orange shipping container, which had been shipped from Canada to Liverpool and then taken to Widnes.
Cheshire Police had received intelligence regarding a HGV arriving at the location carrying a large amount of class B drugs.
As the trio opened the container, officers arrived and detained the three men.
Discovery
The trailer and shipping container were seized and later searched at a secure location.
Eight large mattresses recovered from the trailer had 668 packages hidden inside, containing 334kg of cannabis valued at up to £2.6m.
Following enquiries, officers identified Chen as the one who rented the storage unit and arranged for the importation and delivery of the drugs.
A number of messages were found between Chen and John Kinsella, showing the latter was dealing cannabis and sourcing it from Chen.
He was aware of the shipment Chen had arranged and agreed to assist in unloading it with his brother in return for being supplied cannabis for onward sale.
The drugs were concealed in eight large mattresses (Image: Cheshire Constabulary)Luke Kinsella accepted he knew the contents of the container and was going to receive cannabis — which he intended to sell — in return for assisting in unloading it.
Chen, 29, of Birchfield Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to seven years for importing and supplying cannabis.
John Kinsella, 34, of St Julien Drive, Liverpool, was sentenced to six years and six months for importing and supplying cannabis.
Luke Kinsella, 23, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to four years for being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
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