BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND — Six men were sentenced for a total of 94 years after smuggling drugs from the Netherlands into the UK using fake patients and ambulances.
The Dutch ambulances carried drugs sealed behind panels as they would pass through UK ferry ports with fake patients and paramedics on board, reported BBC.
Officials believe over 45 trips took place involving drugs with an estimated street value of over $2.1 billion.
The operation was tracked by the National Crime Agency last year after one of the ambulances entered the UK, where authorities arrested those inside.
“This was an audacious plot by organized criminals who were driven by profit and who went to extreme lengths to avoid law enforcement attention,” National Crime Agency Operations Manager Brent Lyon said.
Inside the seized ambulance, over 400 pounds of cocaine, 165 pounds of heroin and 20,000 ecstasy tablets were found, with an estimated street value of over $50 million.
The drugs were bound with color coded tape, correlating to a list of 20 customers found in the vehicle.
“This was a highly sophisticated, meticulously planned and well-executed conspiracy involving the importation of Class A drugs on a truly colossal scale,” Judge Francis Laird remarked during sentencing at the Birmingham Crown Court.