Gang smuggled drugs into Britain hidden inside machinery, court told

Smuggling was presided over by the head of the Kinahan gang's UK drug trafficking operation, court hears

Thomas Kavanagh and two other defendants admitted at an earlier hearing to conspiring to import class A and B drugs, and money laundering. File Picture

A drug-smuggling operation bringing cocaine and cannabis, hidden inside items of machinery, into the UK which was presided over by the head of the Kinahan gang's UK drug trafficking operation was uncovered following an investigation by the UK National Crime Agency (NCA), a court heard.

Gardaí seized documents identifying a UK-based freight transport company in January 2017, while making a number of arrests in Dublin in which they seized "a significant quantity of firearms and class A drugs", Ipswich Crown Court heard.