Man jailed for £80m drugs bust in Ghana (From Warrington Guardian)

Man jailed for £80m drugs bust in Ghana

A WARRINGTON man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail plus hard labour in Ghana, following an £80 million drugs seizure.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that David Logan, aged 54, formerly of Warrington, was one of four men sentenced in the African republic last week.

The group was arrested in January after officials seized £80 million worth of cocaine, which Customs and Excise said was destined for the streets of the UK.

Logan, along with Kevin Gorman, aged 59, Alan Hodgson, 46, both from Durham, Frank Laverick, 44, from Cleethorpes, and a German and a Ghanaian national, were found guilty of conspiracy and possession.

A spokesman for the Ghanaian High Commission told the Warrington Guardian: "They will be working in the prisons and they will not be given parole for five years, subject to good conduct."

The arrests came after a multi-national operation discovered around a tonne of cocaine in a villa in the coastal capital of Accra.

The raid was the culmination of a six-month intelligence operation involving UK Customs officers, Spanish police and the Ghanaian Narcotics Control Board.

The drugs were found in what was described as 'a specially-constructed concealment', behind a mirror in Gorman's home.

The gang had brought the cocaine into Ghana and had travelled there to arrange for it to be shipped to the UK.

The Ghanaian spokesman said the seizure was 'crucial' and added: "It should be a lesson to all those who try to use Ghana as a transit point for the smuggling of cocaine."

Both Logan and Gorman were living in Ghana, while Laverick was believed to have been residing in Spain.

It is expected that the men will appeal against the decision.