£1m worth of cannabis found hidden in candles

Four men who hid cannabis with a street value of £1m in pots disguised as candles have been jailed.

Some 182kg of cannabis resin was seized by Border Force officers at Tilbury Docks in Essex, on 17 April 2023, Merseyside Police said.

The pots - disguised as Citronella candles - had been imported from Malaga, Spain, and were destined for business premises in Bootle, Merseyside.

Det Insp Paul McVeigh said the case showed how cannabis was a "drug with concrete links to serious, organised crime".

The four men, from Merseyside and West Yorkshire, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court.

Ian Hannah, 56, of Liverpool Road, Lydiate on Merseyside, was sentenced to four years and three months after he pleaded guilty.

Steven Garbutt, 64, of Middleton Park Road, Leeds, was jailed for six years, while Raja Hamid Ali, 39, of Thornbury Ave, Bradford, was sentenced to five years and six months.

Shahrukh Ali, 28, of Kenley Mount, Bradford, was also sentenced to four years.

Det Insp McVeigh said: "The quantities of drugs being imported were significant and the group stood to make a great deal of money from selling it on the streets of Merseyside via other criminals.

"This is yet another example where cannabis is proven to be a drug with concrete links to serious organised crime, and in fact is not a harmless drug at all."

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