Three of the crimes of which he is accused in the United Kingdom carry life imprisonment, although the Spanish Justice has conditioned his extradition to not being applied
The National Court of Madrid has given the go-ahead to the extradition of a British citizen detained in Benidorm (Alicante), at the end of September last year, according to a car to which it has had access. THE SPANISH NEWSPAPER, from the Iberian Press group. The UK authorities, who had issued an international arrest warrant against him, accuse him of membership in criminal organization and of conspiring, together with 14 other people, to manufacture and supply mainly amphetamine, but also other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ketamine. In one of the gang’s factories, enough chemicals were found to ‘cook’ 3,000 kilos of amphetamines.
The man, who was arrested in Spain during a routine roadblock while riding his motorcycle at the end of September 2022, was 41 years old at the time and is from Dewsbury, a town near the city of Leeds. Their role within the organization is considered “key” by the British police investigation, which ensures that it gave instructions, organized the supply and participated in the decisions for the creation of the production centers.
The Spanish justice has conditioned the extradition to not being sentenced to life imprisonment.
Of the seven crimes of which he is accused, the resolution of December 27 consulted by this newspaper acknowledges, three of them could lead to a sentence of life imprisonment within British legislation, which is why the Spanish Justice has conditioned the extradition to the fact that an eventual sentence is computed for her “in such a way that the extradited person is avoided inevitably suffering imprisonment for life.”
The other four charges that could be applied to him in the United Kingdom refer to conspiracy to supply and distribute narcotic substances, each of which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the British penal code.
3,000 kilos ready to be ‘cooked’
Amphetamine, points out the British Police, was the main drug with which the gang operated, and it was allegedly produced in two factories: one of them in North Wales and another in Merseyside, the county in which the city of Liverpool.
In the first they began to produce “narcotic substances” such as ketamine, MCAT, diazepam and amphetamine in the summer of 2019, but the arrival of coronavirus made them stop production because they “began to suspect that COVID restrictions and police activity” might help “locate” the place, as it eventually did.
Although no drugs were found inside the factory during the raid, “large amounts of chemicals and “specialized” equipment” for their production were recovered. There it would have been produced during that time, according to the British police, amphetamine “worth 1 million pounds” (around 1.15 million euros) and the existence of plans to produce an additional 2 million pounds would have been proven.
Once this factory was located, the criminal group, far from giving up its activity, would have relocated to a new location in an industrial warehouse in Merseyside (England). There they did meet 6 kilos of amphetamine already prepared and “a large quantity of chemical substances” that would have resulted in the production of “an estimated 3,000 more kilos of amphetamine ready for distribution.”
The gang was also involved in supplying diazepam, ketamine, cocaine, heroin, and cannabis.
The gang was also involved in the supply of amphetamine, diazepam, ketamine, cocaine, heroin and cannabis throughout the UK. Within the organization, the detainee would be identified with the code name “fork-lightning”, and the British police consider it “proven” that he was “a key group member“.
“Downloading of encrypted material shows that acted as conduit Come in [el resto de] key members of the group: sent instructions, arranged meetings, managed the use of transport and logistics, was in regular telephone contact with group members, assisted the North Wales factory, sourced and supplied precursor chemicals for amphetamine production, provided assistance with the equipment in the factory, and was involved with the supply and import of class A and class B narcotic substances”, explains the judicial resolution to which this newspaper has had access.