COCAINE SMUGGLERS JAILED

Ten drug smugglers were jailed for a total of 134 years yesterday after the
smashing of one of the biggest cocaine rings ever uncovered in Britain.

Sentences of 20 years each were handed down to two London men whose alleged
leader, nightclub owner Connor Mahon, was decapitated in a still unexplained
motorcycle accident on the M2 shortly after customs and excise officers made
arrests.

Terms of between 10 and 15 years were given to other members of the gang who
operated a complex cover involving fake expeditions in Colombia and Brazil
and non-existent skiing trips. Cocaine worth over pounds 20m was found in
Land-Rover wheel hubs when British and French customs officers pounced in
January in the Channel tunnel.

Judge Ian Dobkin told the men, convicted by a 10-2 majority at Leeds crown
court, that they had played for high stakes and must expect to suffer
equally big losses.