Haulier’s 20-year drug smuggling term

Peter Hall: jailed

A GANG of hauliers - including one from Mossley - have been jailed for over 80 years for their part in a Europe-wide conspiracy to import £6.5million of drugs

Police targeted the criminal network, who used an extensive knowledge of European haulage to smuggle cash out of the UK and import Class A and B drugs.

Peter Hall (50), of Ratcliffe Terrace, Mossley, one of the conspiracy leaders. He was convicted of conspiracy to import drugs and was jailed for 20 years.

Seamus Ward (30) of, Liverpool, and Michael McLoughlin (57), of Welshpool, were also convicted of conspiracy to import drugs. Robert Wood (58), of Wakefield, was convicted of conspiracy to import drugs and concealing criminal property.

Urfan Khan (38), of Bracknell, and Sandeep Sahota Singh (36), of Hayes, were convicted of importation of cannabis. Singh was sentenced to five years in prison and Khan will be sentenced at a later date.

On April 21, 2012, a lorry purportedly carrying plastic pellets was stopped by officers as it returned from Europe. A search revealed a sophisticated hidden compartment in the roof of the trailer, in which 160kg of amphetamine and 6kg of cocaine were found

A few weeks later another lorry was stopped and police found 38kg of cannabis.