A man has been found not guilty of allegedly importing 155 kilos of cannabis into the UK, which were found hidden under fragrant tumble dryer sheets used to ‘disguise the smell’. Gao Shan, 53, was accused of importing the class B drug as well as possession with intent to supply cannabis.
However, following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, jurors have found him not guilty of both offences.
Jurors previously heard that police were investigating the smuggling of cannabis into the country in July last year. This operation saw the creation of ‘fictitious companies’ in Canada sending industrial machinery into the UK, it was said.
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The first consignment was ordered on July 13, described to be an ‘inverter’ and was originally addressed to an address in Wilmslow, prosecutor Antony Longworth said.
En route, the address was changed to be delivered to a unit on Victoria Park Industrial Estate, Failsworth, the court heard. “On July 15 that consignment arrived by air at Heathrow and was wrapped in blue plastic. Border Force officers were suspicious and the consignment was opened and was found to not contain industrial machinery, but boxes and boxes of cannabis,” Mr Longworth said.
“They were wrapped in vacuum sealed packages and contained fragrant tumble dryer sheets, which the prosecution say was used to disguise the notable smell of cannabis.”
That consignment was seized and, the prosecutor said, showed the smuggling operation ‘going about its work and what they were attempting to do’. On July 21 another 'company' based on the same street which sent the previous consignment in Richmond, Canada, sent a further package, it was said.
The ‘receiver’ and the destination of the consignment was listed at an address in Glasgow, but the address was later changed back to the unit in Failsworth, jurors heard.
At Heathrow, the consignment was intercepted, which contained two pallets wrapped in the same blue packaging, and was found to contain 155 kilos of cannabis, the prosecutor said. The cannabis was removed and the crates were repackaged to look like their original appearance and were delivered two days later, the court heard.
The delivery was recorded on CCTV and it showed Mr Shan arriving in a black VW Passat, speaking to the delivery driver before unloading the crates, it was said. It is alleged that he can be seen speaking on the phone before taking a photo of the package and partially opening it by removing some of the blue plastic.
Mr Chan was then allegedly seen securing the unit with two padlocks before leaving. Later that afternoon, police went to a carpark next to a block of flats on Blackley New Road, the court heard.
They found Mr Chan stood next to the VW Passat. He was arrested and the police found a set of keys for the car. They also found a silver key with a fob and a red Aldi bag containing keys,” Mr Longworth said.
“Upon searching the car, on top of the spare wheel they found a House of Fraser bag containing vacuum seal bags, the same type of bags as which the drugs were packaged in. The keys which were recovered fitted the padlocks to the unit, and upon search of the unit, officers found vacuum seal bags, blue plastic wrap and scales with traces of cannabis on them. Inside the unit there was a strong smell of cannabis,” he added.
Other keys found on Mr Shan were used to enter a flat in the Towers, which showed ‘little sign it was being lived in’, the court heard. In the bathroom there were three toothbrushes, one of which contained Mr Shan’s DNA, it was said.
Throughout the flat there were bags and pillow cases containing a total of 33 kilos of cannabis bush, jurors were told. The unit was being used as a ‘warehouse depot’ for the cannabis and the flat was being used as a ‘distribution centre’, Mr Longworth said.
Investigations later found that the unit was being rented by a ‘Chinese male’ and being paid for in cash by Mr Shan, and he had a tenancy with the flat, of which he was paying the rent for, the court heard. He was allegedly ‘responsible’ for both premises.
Mr Shan was interviewed, in which he provided a prepared statement denying the allegations and said he ‘did not know the parcels contained cannabis’, and that a ‘person asked him to receive the parcel did not tell him the truth’ about them containing the drugs, the court heard.
Gao Shan, of Moss Lane East, denied importing cannabis with intent to evade prohibition or restriction and denied possession with intent to supply class B drugs. He was found not guilty by a jury.
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