Discovery of drugs in tyre burst web of crime (From Warrington Guardian)

Discovery of drugs in tyre burst web of crime

IT was a meticulously planned, sophisticated smuggling operation with the aim of pushing millions of pounds worth of heroin onto the streets of St Helens.

A plan that if successful would line the pockets of drug lords and ultimately lead to more innocent victims being sucked into the depths of drug addiction.

But in April last year that plot was foiled by detectives from the National Crime Squad when undercover work resulted in one of the biggest ever seizures of Class A drugs and weapons in St Helens, the sentencing of two local men directly implicated in the smuggling for combined jail terms of 20 years, and the crippling of a web of organised crime which had spread its shadow across the north west.

On April 14, last year Dutchman, Dirk Van Minnen, entered the UK at Hull after taking a lorry by ferry from Rotterdam, Holland.

Travelling using his legitimate job as a HGV driver, the 54-year-old was supposedly on a scheduled run to make a delivery in Merseyside.However, officers from the National Crime Squad who were tracking Van Minnen suspected his actions were far more sinister.

He was observed making a detour through Birchwood after leaving the M62, stopping in Dayton Avenue, Risley, Warrington.

There he met Steven Thornton and Keith Leatherbarrow, both from St Helens. They removed a lorry tyre from Van Minnen's HGV spare tyre compartment and placed it inside their white Peugeot van, which was marked with the words 'Tyre maintenance'.

As the Dutchman continued his journey to his company's Merseyside depot, Thornton and Leatherbarrow drove their van to Acorn Street, Newton-le-Willows, where they transferred the tyre into a Vauxhall car and then drove away to St Helens.

Both men remained under surveillance by detectives working as part of investigation Operation Supernova, and they became aware of the pursuit as they approached St Helens. A high-speed car chase followed through country lanes between Newton-le-Willows and Parr before climaxing in a collision with unmarked police cars at Derbyshire Hill Road, Parr.

Both men abandoned the vehicle and attempted to run away before being collared by officers and arrested. Inside the tyre were 35 one-kilogram bags of heroin that had an estimated street value of £2.1million. Also seized were two Browning automatic pistols and 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

At Liverpool Crown Court last week, all three were handed jail terms. Leatherbarrow, 34, of New Street, Sutton, pleaded guilty of plotting to smuggle the drugs and guns. He was sentenced to 15 years.

Thornton, 30, of Pollitt Crescent, Clock Face, was sentenced to four years and nine months. He had claimed he believed the drugs being smuggled were cannabis, and was convicted of importing Class B drugs and possessing firearms.

Vin Minnen who had been arrested in Merseyside on the day of the seizure was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Detective Inspector Mark Stirling of the National Crime Squad said intelligence suggested the drugs were intended to be circulated in St Helens and Warrington.

After sentencing, he said: "These arrests helped disrupt a major importation and distribution network in the north of England, and their sentences today reflect the seriousness of those offences.

"This group employed a high degree of sophistication to their own operation which is reflected in the lengths they were prepared to go to appear as a legitimate as possible and the view is taken that perhaps this was one of but many 'runs' they were to undertake."