Five men have been convicted after smuggling 2.3 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of £184 million into the UK hidden in a shipment of bananas from South America.
The men were arrested at an industrial estate in Tottenham, north London, after a specialist police team discovered their plan.
The five men are Petko Zhutev, 39, from Bulgaria, Gjergji Diko, 33, from Italy, and Albanian nationals Bruno Kuci, 33, Olsi Ebeja, 40, and Erik Muci, 44.
They were arrested after an investigation by the Organised Crime Partnership (OCP) - a joint National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police unit that works to stop the flow of drugs to the criminal market in London.
OCP officers, joined by an armed Met police unit, swooped on the industrial estate in February 2021 as the five men were waiting to receive 41 pallets of bananas, which had been loaded with cocaine.
The drugs had different branded stamps on them, which corresponded to particular organised crime groups that were going to sell them on the streets of London and the wider UK.
Border Force officers at Portsmouth International Port had found the cocaine after the OCP provided intelligence they would be arriving on a cargo ship from Turbo, Colombia, concealed within a legitimate consignment of bananas.
OCP officers removed the cocaine and followed the consignment of bananas until it reached its final destination - Agro Food Ltd at the Crispin Industrial Estate.
The seizure is believed to be one of the largest ever of its type in the UK.
Investigators identified that Zhutev had taken over as the director of the food company in December 2020. Although it was previously a legitimate business, he had acquired it solely to use it as a front for crime.
Muci was one of the leading organisers for the drugs importation. He was seen meeting with Zhutev, Kuci and Diko at Agro Foods and arranged the delivery and installation of equipment that would help keep up the pretence that it was a legitimate business.
Investigations into the group’s mobile phones showed Muci controlled the importation and supply of “significant” amounts of cocaine across the UK.
After Zhutev, Kuci and Diko accepted the consignment, armed officers used a circular saw to enter the locked premises during a raid that resulted in their arrest.
Empty banana boxes had been strewn over the floor of the unit by the men - evidence of their “desperate” attempts to find the drugs and move them from the site.
The men had constructed dozens of cardboard boxes which they had intended to use to pack with cash generated by drug sales.
Officers also found nine empty suitcases which the drugs were destined to be packed into for onwards supply.
A gun with five rounds of live ammunition was found hidden behind a ceiling beam, along with several mobile phones which had been hidden around the premises.
Ebeja was the intended lookout and driver for the drugs, and was arrested near Agro Foods as he waited inside a hire van. Following the arrests, OCP officers searched a flat associated to Diko and Muci, during which they found 37 kilos of cocaine and ammunition for the gun.
Officers arrested Ebeja at a property in central London, in October 2023.
Muci was arrested outside an address in Hornchurch, East London, the following month.
Diko and Kuci pleaded guilty to drugs, firearms and ammunition offences at the Old Bailey in October 2021 and April 2023 respectively.
Zhutev, from West Beckton, London, was cleared of the firearms and ammunition offences at the same court in July last year, following a two-month trial.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on drugs importation offences and he was re-tried for these. He changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday last week, 58 days in to the re-trial.
Ebeja and Muci were convicted on Thursday, having faced trial alongside him for the first time.
Ebeja and Muci were found guilty of conspiracy to import class A drugs. Muci was also found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, in relation to the cocaine found in the flat.
A sentencing date for all five men is yet to be confirmed.
John Coles, Head of Specialist Operations at the NCA, said: “These men attempted to bring a huge amount of cocaine into the country - one of the largest hauls of its kind on UK soil – which was destined for crime groups across London and the wider UK, and the seizure stemmed from a thorough investigation by NCA and Met Police officers.”
Detective Superintendent Simon Moring, from the Metropolitan Police Service’s Central Specialist Crime Command, said: “This seizure would have been broken down into many millions of individual deals of cocaine.
“This level of violence, mental and physical health problems and anti-social behaviour that would have ensued across London and the UK would have been significant.
“This seizure highlights the relentless drive by the Met Police, the NCA and wider UK law enforcement to tackle the illegal supply of drugs.”
