An Irlam man has been jailed for eight years after being convicted of sending drugs in parcels from America to the U.K.
Matthew Johns aged 42 of Lords Street, Irlam was jailed after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply a controlled drug (cocaine) and being concerned in the importation of a class B drug (cannabis)
Five suspicious packages had been intercepted, arriving from various fake addresses in America.
All five packages were reported to have a significant smell of cannabis and the labels were destined for different addresses all in the same area of Bury.
The majority of cannabis being imported into Greater Manchester comes from America and each of the parcels had an approximate weight of 0.95kg of cannabis.
Fingerprints taken from the parcels identified a positive match for Johns.
Johns had flown from Manchester Airport to JFK Airport in New York on April 1, returning to Manchester on May 8, confirming that Johns was in America at the time the parcels were sent to the UK.
Detective Sergeant Emily Whitehead from Operation Challenger at Bury said: “This was a complex investigation involving highly organised criminality, where Johns made every effort to evade the police.
“Let this case serve as a reminder to those engaging in serious criminality across Greater Manchester — we take a robust stance in tackling offending of this kind and the devastation it causes to the communities in which we live.
“When you bring drugs into the country from abroad, you’re committing an importation offence which is more serious and has greater consequences than a standard drug offence, such as possession.
“Alongside the Home Office, Border Force and Royal Mail, officers from our Challenger team are committed to tackling the importation of cannabis through the postal system.
“Programme Challenger is Greater Manchester’s partnership response to tackling serious and organised crime. It brings together law enforcement agencies, local authorities, and community partners to address all forms of serious crime — including county lines activity, the exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults, modern slavery, immigration and economic crime, and the criminal use of firearms.”
