Cocaine gang locked up; Drugs worth pounds 125m smuggled into country Drugs gang given long jail terms.

Byline: Ross McCarthy;Paul Bradley

MEMBERS of a Birmingham drugs gang that smuggled cocaine and cannabis worth up to pounds 125 million into the country were today starting lengthy sentences behind bars.

Barry Phipps, 46, of Greenacres, Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, was jailed for 25 years. Geoffrey Edwards, 50, of Brandwood Crescent, Kings Norton, was given a 20-year sentence.

His wife Tina Edwards, 50, was sentenced to 15 years while John Gilbert, 49, of Birmingham Road, Oldbury, and David Cullen, 53, of Quinton Road West, Quinton, were each jailed for 14 years.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said: "All the defendants in this case were sophisticated in concealing what they were doing, particularly Phipps, very much the shady character in the background." He said the gang had used huge industrial rollers which, when sealed, would have made it difficult for sniffer dogs to detect the drugs, which had been destined eventually for Ireland. He said that soon after the first smuggling operation was uncovered, Phipps, who had financed it, had set up a second one which had involved concealing cocaine in consignments of mini- Harley Davidson motorcycles and inflatable sea scooters that were sent to Ireland. He said that Geoffrey Edwards's role was as an organiser and manager and that he had recruited drivers.

The judge also said there was powerful evidence that the gang had been involved in the illegal importation of cigarettes after three million were found in a lorry driven by Gilbert. Phipps, Geoffrey and Tina Edwards and Gilbert had all been found guilty of two charges of conspiracy to import and export cocaine and cannabis, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Phipps and Cullen were also convicted of a separate charge of conspiracy to export cocaine. The court had heard that Phipps was the transport manager of a transport business called JBS Transport in Nechells while Geoffrey and Tina Edwards ran AE Transport based in Dolman Street, Birmingham. Matters came to light thanks to an eagle-eyed warehouse manager in Brussels who became suspicious about pallets containing metal rollers which were making a regular round journey. He discreetly marked the load and when they turned up again he alerted the Belgian authorities. When they were opened, they were found to contain 20 packages of cocaine, 365 of cannabis as well as 10 packages of cutting agent for cocaine.

The drugs were allowed to go on their way through legitimate transport businesses, while being kept under surveillance, before being eventually picked up by Gilbert who was working for AE Transport and then transported to Ireland by Geoffrey Edwards. Between August 2006 and February 2007 a total of 15 importation runs were detected while further investigations revealed that Cullen, who was working for JBS, had subsequently on five occasions taken more cocaine to Ireland.

CAPTION(S):

'Shady': Barry Phipps was jailed for 25 years. Sophisticated: Tina Edwards, Geoffrey Edwards, David Cullen and John Gilbert are starting lengthy jail sentences after being found guilty of drugs offences.