St Helens men among 13 charged over drugs plot 'worth billions of pounds'

On Tuesday, morning raids were carried out across the country leading to 19 arrests in connection with a National Crime Agency investigation into the importation of cocaine, heroin and cannabis worth billions of pounds.

Today, 13 of those men were charged with conspiracy to import class A drugs and four counts of conspiracy to import class B drugs.

They include 54-year-old Paul Green from Eccleston who has been charged with four counts of conspiracy to import class A drugs and four counts of conspiracy to import class B drugs and Andrew Reilly, 37, of Grange Park Road, St Helens who has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to import class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to import class B drugs.

Others charged with four counts of conspiracy to import class A drugs and four counts of conspiracy to import class B drugs across the country are:

Sohail Quereshi, 59, of Wood Crescent, White City, London;

Mohammed Ovais, 41, of Bournlee Avenue, Burnage, Manchester;

Ghazanfar Mahmood, 48, of Green Lane, Bolton;

Ifthikar Hussain, 46, of Upland Grove, Leeds, West Yorkshire;

Vojtech Dano, 38, of Vulcan Gardens, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire; and

Ivan Turtak, 34, of Vulcan Gardens, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Others charged with two counts of conspiracy to import class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to import class B drugs across the country are:

Khaleed Vazeer, 56, of Westwood Avenue, Timperley, Manchester;

Steven Martin, 48, of Chorley Old Road, Bolton;

Mark Peers, 55, of Norbeck Close, Warrington;

Paul Ruane, 54, of Bewsey Road, Warrington;

Oliver Penter, 37, of Gladstone Street, Stockport,

All of the men have been remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today, Thursday, October 10.

The four men and two women from the Netherlands, who were arrested in April by the Dutch National Police on European Arrest Warrants, are currently awaiting extradition to the UK.