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International drugs gang sentenced after £1.2m of drugs discovered in Grimsby

Drugs gang in Grimsby

International drugs gang sentenced after £1.2m of drugs discovered in Grimsby

Four men who made up an international drugs gang were yesterday sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court to almost 50 years combined in prison for possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs.

This comes after a huge quantity of drugs were found in a car by police officers in Grimsby last October.

After officers stopped the BMW vehicle, they discovered the stash of up to £1 million worth of cocaine, as well as £200,000 worth of cocaine and MDMA.

Two members of the gang – Ilja Palionnijs and Egons Semjonovs – were already under police surveillance at the time of the discovery.

CCTV footage showed them putting holdalls filled with the drugs into the vehicle outside a local hotel, and officers then apprehended the driver, Igor Gridin, and passenger, Aleksej Sagamogas, shortly afterwards.

The four gang members – all from Latvia – were arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply drugs.

Detectives from West Midlands Police led the operation into drugs trading across the UK, eastern Europe and America.

But it was officers from Humberside Police who found the £1.2 million stash, along with a rucksack in the vehicle which contained packaging material and receipts.

These showed that items weighing a number of kilos had been transported to other parts of the world – including two parcels intercepted in America which contained drugs.

Text messages from ring leader Palionnijs’ phone showed he was directing the trade of drugs across continents.

He and Semjonovs had flown from Riga to London and then at some stage collected the drugs.

They had travelled to Grimsby separately to Gridin and Sagamogas who then drove from London to meet them the next day for the exchange.

CCTV evidence secured following the arrests showed Gridin and Sagamogas had previously been involved in the distribution of drug packages.

The four were sentenced as follows:

Ilja Palionnijs, aged 31, of no fixed address, was jailed for 14 years and four months.

Egons Semjonovs, aged 29, of no fixed address, was jailed for 10 years and six months.

Igor Gridin, aged 36, of no fixed address, was jailed for 12 years and three months.

Aleksej Sagamogas, aged 31, of no fixed address, was jailed for 10 years and six months.

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