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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Drug smuggler told to pay back £2.6m
Swindon Advertiser Saturday 18 Feb 2012 David Barnes, 42, who is serving a 12-year jail term for plotting to supply cannabis, has six months to pay up or face an extra eight years' in jail. The smuggler, who led a lavish lifestyle funded by importing thousands of kilos of cannabis from Europe, claimed he had made just £50,000 net profit from the operation he headed. Bristol Crown Court heard that between January and April 2009, Barnes and his gang imported 9,647kg of cannabis with a wholesale value of £26.5m and a street value of £100m. The prosecution maintained that Barnes had made a minimum net personal profit of £275 per kilo – a total of £2.6m – which was salted away overseas in Pakistan, Quebec and Dubai. However, Barnes, of Hungerford, claimed during the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing that his cut from the operation was just £10 per kilo. Barnes's co-accused, "first lieutenant" Michael Woodage, 52, of Whitchurch, Hampshire, was ordered to pay £80,000 within six months or face an additional 21 months' imprisonment on top the eight-year sentence he is already serving. The two defendants and six other members of the gang were all jailed in July 2010. During the trial jurors heard that almost 10 tonnes of skunk cannabis was found at a farm in Wanborough, but detailed records showed that much more had passed through. The gang had smuggled the cannabis into the UK among shipments of flowers, such as tulips and chrysanthemums from Holland. The discovery led police to secure buildings on Poplar Farm, Wanborough, which was leased by Barnes. They said cash was taken from Swindon back down the M4 to London, then wired to cash bureaux in Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan where the money trail ran cold for police. Detectives discovered that Barnes made trips to Canada, Dubai and Pakistan in the months leading up to the drugs bust. The court heard that Barnes' wife Paula, 43, has no assets and is believed to be abroad on the run from police following a fatal car crash in September 2010. She was released on bail to appear in court last April to face a charge of causing the death of primary school teacher Diane Wright by dangerous driving but failed to attend. Detective Sergeant Bob Cooper, of Wiltshire Police, described Barnes' empire as one of the biggest in the UK. "“I would rate it as one of the biggest drug importation operations in the UK," he said. "The order for £2.6m is a fair reflection of the degree of criminality David Barnes was involved in. "He lived a 'cash-lease' lifestyle and we didn’t find any of the trappings of his lifestyle. "Our case is that he squirrelled away his money and, even though we cannot find the money, the judge has accepted that it does exist." http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9538728.Drug_smuggler_told_to_pay_back___2_6m/
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