Cocaine smugglers who painted drug onto broom handles jailed

The group of drugs handlers, including a pair from Tottenham, planned to import 30 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of more than £1 million.

They concealed the class A drugs by coating broomsticks in a lacquer containing cocaine, which was then shipped in a container via legitimate means, Scotland Yard said.

• MOST READ: Met officer who crashed police car while on duty was visibly drunk

To the naked eye, the broom handles looked completely normal and were concealed with other bundles of normal broom handles.

The cocaine underwent a chemical process in Columbia to convert it into a lacquer, which was used to varnish the broom handles.

Broomsticks with cocaine lacquered to them unseen by naked eyes (Image: Met)

The broom handles were ordered from Columbia in April 2021, the group being careful to lay down a false audit trail to divert suspicion.

But they did not know the Metropolitan Police had begun investigating the group in December 2020. And in 2021, officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) – which was separately investigating one of the individuals, provided crucial intelligence that the group were planning to import class A drugs from overseas.

A shipping container storing the brooms arrived on October 23, 2021 and transported to an industrial unit.

Two days later, police and NCA officers attended the unit on the Darenth Industrial Estate, in Kent, where the mops and broom handles were being unloaded.

Five of the people unloading the lorry were arrested at the scene and two men, who had also been involved in the group’s activities, were arrested later the same day at their home addresses.

They were all charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.

Ermal Shtrezi, 40, of Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment for importing cocaine on broomsticks. (Image: Met)

At Kingston Crown Court on Thursday (December 14) Yuni Alexis Pacheco Miranda, 54, of The Roundway, Tottenham, was jailed for 29 years.

Ermal Shtrezi, 40 (03.04.82), of Lyndhurst Road, Haringey, was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.

Nigel Rogers, 61, of Olympia Way, in Whitstable, Kent, also received 23 years.

Alexis Miranda, 54, of The Roundway, Tottenham, will spend 29 years in jail for importing cocaine on broomsticks (Image: Met)

Frank Asante, 49, of Ledbury Road, Kensington and Chelsea, was sentenced to 18 years, while Daniel Oliver, 52, of The Parade, Margate, Kent, received 29 years and Terrence Allen, 74, of Wordsworth Road, Welling, was sentenced to 13 years.

A seventh man, William Adams, 75, of Brunswick Field, in Teynham, Kent, will be sentenced at a later date.

The convictions followed an eight-month trial after Specialist Crime detectives carried out an eight-month surveillance investigation.

Det Sgt Nicola Hawkins, who led the investigation, said: “These men were a group of career criminals with previous convictions for similar offences.

Cocaine-laced broomsticks found in a container (Image: Met)

"Miranda and his accomplices played a hands-on role in the importation and were caught red handed by officers, who had been diligently watching and building strong evidence against them.

“The data officers discovered on Miranda’s phone during the trial was a treasure trove of evidence incriminating him, including images showing the cocaine being painted onto the broom handles in Columbia.

Cash found at Ermal Shtrezi's address (Image: Met)

“Our priority is to keep Londoners safe – drugs cause misery to communities and the associated issues plague local residents.

"The Met is taking out the organised supply of drugs into the UK at the top of the chain and removing those involved at all levels off the streets of London.

"In order to continue to achieve this objective, the Met continues to work closely with our partners at the NCA.”