Four More Men Charged in Alleged 'Breaking Bad-Style' Meth Lab Operation
The new charges follow an earlier plea of not guilty by five Mexican nationals involved in the same alleged conspiracy.
Four men have been charged with operating a methamphetamine laboratory in Warwickshire, England, a development that comes a month after five Mexican nationals denied involvement in the same alleged crime. The four men, all in their thirties, are expected to appear in court following their arrests on Thursday.
Kenneth Burton, Paul Harkness Mawby, and Anthony Devine, all 34, along with 36-year-old Mohammed Khan, were arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA). Burton, Mawby, and Devine, who hail from County Durham and Stockton-on-Tees, are scheduled to appear at Teesside Magistrates' Court. Khan, from Birmingham, will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.
These arrests were made after five Mexican men previously appeared at Warwickshire Crown Court on September 10. Alejandro Ambriz Dimas, 45, from Michoacan, and Victor Ramirez, 47, Fausto Beltran, 33, Lioncio Moso Borja, 37, and Jose Nunez Angolo, 44—all from the Sinaloa region except for Dimas—pleaded not guilty to charges related to the production of methamphetamine, a Class-A drug. They claimed to be in the UK for legitimate work as chefs and builders.
The alleged meth lab was reportedly operated by a criminal group on a farm near the hamlet of Furnace End in Warwickshire, with investigations focusing on a suspected crime group. NCA officers, working with Warwickshire Police and other emergency services, raided the farm where the Mexican men were staying, leading to their arrests.
The five Mexican defendants remain in custody pending a trial expected to last one month in February 2027.
A police photograph of the suspected site showed a basement containing gas canisters, large plastic tubs, and containers connected by metal tubing, reminiscent of the fictional drug manufacturing depicted in the television series 'Breaking Bad'.