Four Men Appear in Court in Crystal Meth Conspiracy Case
Allegations involve hidden laboratories and production of the Class A drug methamphetamine.
Four men have appeared in court accused of involvement in a drug conspiracy that allegedly involved setting up hidden laboratories to produce crystal methamphetamine.
Authorities discovered what they describe as a hidden factory near Furnace End in Warwickshire in August. Five Mexican nationals were found living in a caravan nearby and were subsequently charged along with four British men.
Kenneth Burton, Paul Harkness Mawby, and Louis Anthony Devine, all 34, appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court. Paul Doney, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, informed the court that this case is a continuation of an investigation that led to the arrest and charging of five Mexican nationals at Blossom Tree Farm for the production of methamphetamine.
A police image previously released from the Warwickshire farm shows a basement with gas canisters, plastic tubs, and containers connected to metal tubing. Methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, is a highly addictive Class A drug that can cause severe psychosis, heart attack, or stroke.
Burton, of Wynyard, Co. Durham; Mawby, of Thornaby, North Yorkshire; and Devine, of Ingleby Barwick, North Yorkshire, confirmed their personal details during a brief hearing. They were remanded in custody and are scheduled to appear at Teesside Crown Court on November 24 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
Bench chairwoman Elizabeth Carroll cautioned the defendants that they face a significant custodial sentence if convicted.
The five Mexican suspects, four of whom are from the Sinaloa region, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to produce methamphetamine between February and August of this year. They claim they were legitimately working at the farm as chefs and builders. Alejandro Ambriz Dimas, 45, Victora Ramirez, 47, Fausto Beltran, 33, Lioncio Moso Borja, 37, and Jose Nunez Angolo, 44, were all remanded in custody. Their month-long trial is scheduled for February.
Separately, Mohammed Khan, 36, appeared before magistrates in Wolverhampton, also accused of involvement in the methamphetamine plot. Khan did not enter a plea and is scheduled to appear at Warwick Crown Court on November 23.