Four drug dealers who attempted to smuggle £11 million worth of cocaine into the UK hidden inside containers of bananas have been jailed for 62 years at Warwick Crown Court

Robert Ball, 59, Florjan Ibra, 30, Mirgent Shahu, 32, and Arman Kaviani, 37, were arrested after a shipping container of drugs was unloaded at London Gateway port.

Border Force officers intercepted the refrigerated consignment of bananas from Ecuador in April 2022 and discovered 139 kilos of cocaine hidden in the roof.

National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators had discovered Ball, a haulage company boss, was acting on behalf of an Albanian organised crime group.

A court heard he used the cover of his business and his connections within the industry to locate the container with the drugs in a few days later.

Ball then persuaded the owner of the containers to allow him to retrieve it from the port before arranging transportation to a storage yard in Coventry.

He drove from his home in Altrincham, Cheshire on April 15, 2022 to collect Shahu at a Costa Coffee in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

Ball and Shahu then headed to the storage yard and gave instructions to Kaviani and Ibra, who used a forklift truck to get on top of the container.

The four men have been jailed for a combined total of 62 years (image via NCA)

They were captured in surveillance footage ripping open the roof using a crowbar and starting unloading packages they believed contained the drugs.

Dramatic CCTV shows NCA and police officers moving in to arrest them. Kaviani and Ibra attempted to flee but were apprehended at the storage yard.

All four men were later charged with one count of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug.

Ball and Shahu were convicted by a jury at Warwick Crown Court on May 26 this year, while Ibra and Kaviani pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.

At the same court today (November 1) Ball and Shahu, of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, were each jailed for 18 years.

Ibra, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 13-and-a-half years and Kaviani, of Golders Green, London, was caged for 12 years and nine months at previous hearings.

Ibra and Kaviani on the roof of a container (image via NCA)

NCA operations manager David Phillips said: "Ball and Shahu oversaw the nuts and bolts of this conspiracy on behalf of the organised crime group behind it.

"This group enlisted the assistance of Ibra and Kaviani, who they hoped would retrieve the drugs and make their efforts worthwhile.

"Unfortunately for these men, NCA officers were watching their every move before moving in to arrest them.

"Cocaine fuels violence and exploitation, including gang culture and firearm and knife crime in the UK and around the world.

"Removing this consignment from circulation will have been a sizeable blow to this criminal network, preventing them from generating profits that would have been invested in further criminality.

"We are determined to dismantle major international crime groups like this one from top to bottom."

Border Force officers intercepted the refrigerated consignment of bananas from Ecuador in April 2022 (image cia NCA)

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: "This is the latest example of Border Force officers seizing millions of pounds worth of cocaine and dismantling an abhorrent criminal gang.

"This case demonstrates how Border Force use cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of organised crime groups to keep our borders secure and protect our communities from illegal and dangerous substances."

Caroline Hughes, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: "The offenders in this case were involved in a sophisticated criminal operation to import a significant amount of cocaine into the UK.

"The supply of drugs is motivated by greed. It is a lucrative business for those involved.

"It has disastrous consequences for those using drugs, their families and the community: a vast amount of crimes affecting the public are committed by users to pay for their habits.

"The CPS worked closely and effectively with the National Crime Agency to dismantle their dangerous operation, by building a strong case and bringing all of the offenders involved to justice.

"We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings against Robert Ball to recover the money he made from his criminality."