Papplewick man among criminals jailed for role in £165 million cocaine operation

Vast amounts of high purity cocaine, as well as thousands of pounds in cash, were moved around the country in just over a year that the gang operated in.

The 21-strong group used encrypted phones in the hope that the operation – which involved importing multiple kilos of the drug from Dubai – would not be discovered.

The gang’s total earnings over the 408-day conspiracy is estimated to have been a staggering £165 million.

A total of 18 defendants were jailed for a combined total of 167 years for the part they played in the conspiracy following four trials at Derby Crown Court.

Among those was Kelly Williamson, 57, of Mansfield Road, Papplewick, was jailed for five years and three months after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Williamson, a father-of-two, was found to have received two packages of high purity cocaine after being placed under police surveillance.

The drugs gang was led by Paldip Mahngar, who organised in the region of 100kg of high-purity cocaine to be moved all over the country.

The 45-year-old used an encrypted EncroChat phone to order multiple kilos of the drug from contacts in Dubai – which was then distributed across the country by Jaswant Kajla.

From his home in Bluebird Drive, Coventry, Kajla organised the logistics of moving the drugs, along with the collecting of money from the gang’s customers.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Walters, who lead the investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), said: “This was a massive undertaking by a very skilled and determined investigation team to dismantle a gang which was responsible for the industrial scale wholesale supply of cocaine across the country, along with the movement of millions of pounds in criminal cash each week.

“While the gang's use of a 'token' system to monitor their cash flow and the encrypted Encrochat handsets to coordinate their business showed a level of sophistication, they merely acted as a breadcrumb trail for us to see the scale of the 'business', and identify each member of the organised crime group, as well as every sale they had made."