Filthy lucre: Drugs gang so rich it left £225,000 to rot in damp safe

A drugs gang became so rich importing cannabis that it left £225,000 to rot in a damp safe.
The smugglers, who brought the 'skunk' into Britain hidden in boxes of flowers from Holland, are believed to have made an estimated £62million.
At one point, the gang was shipping in consignments worth up to £750,000 a week and would use an East London bureau de change to clean up its 'dirty' profits.
Terrence Bowler will be sentenced, along with 11 others, at Southwark Crown Court in London for his leading role in what is believed to be Britain's most prolific skunk cannabis-smuggling rings.

Neatly stacked wads of cash illustrate the scale of the cannabis ring's wealth

Bags of skunk weighting more than 220 kilogrammes were found within the shipment at Harwich belonging to members of the gang believed to be Britain's most prolific importers of skunk cannabis

The rotting money was found in an underground safe at a lock-up in Kingston, Surrey. Of the £225,000, £60,000 was so damaged it was given to the Bank of England to be destroyed.
Details of the case can be reported for the first time today for legal reasons.
A 14-month undercover investigation found that the drugs were imported into the UK through Harwich ferry port in Essex and taken to a warehouse in Chatham, Kent.
But officers at the port intercepted a shipment of 224kg, worth more than £750,000, on July 16, 2008, prompting a major change in tactics.
From September 2008, the drugs were shipped to Hull and taken to a warehouse in Leeds, West Yorkshire, before being transported to one of a number of lock-up garages in Kingston, Worcester Park, Epsom and Ashtead, where the skunk cannabis would be unpacked and stored.

Along with Bowler, who led the gang's so-called board of directors, 11 others now face jail in connection with the network.

More than £60,000 that was found within the safe at Deer Park Close that had gone mouldy

Drugs were even hidden inside deliveries of fresh flowers

Bowler, 40, from Kingston, Surrey, Peter Moran, 37, from Fulham, west London; and Mark Kinnimont, 40, from Surbiton, Surrey, made up the board of directors and all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import controlled drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.
Liam Salter, David Couchman and Timothy Sullivan represented the next level of authority.

Salter, 39, from Tadworth, Surrey, Couchman, 38, from Southwark, south London, and Sullivan, 38, from Epsom, Surrey, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.
Asim Bashir, 35, from Ilford, Essex, made sure that the drug money was included with legitimate cash and laundered through the financial system.
He was convicted of laundering the proceeds of crime.

Gang member Peter Brown is seen unloading drugs at a lock up in Marlborough Gardens belonging to the gang

Roger Alexander, 44, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, sold much of the imported product, earning £150 to £175 per kilo, and admitted conspiracy to supply controlled goods and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.

Peter Brown, 37, from Kingston, was a late entrant into the operation, only joining in September 2008, but was key once the drugs started being imported to Leeds via Hull.
He was witnessed meeting dealer Barrie Burn, 59, from Bristol, and both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply controlled drugs.
Andrew West, 36, from Tadworth, was a driver for the gang and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.

Driver James Hay, who helped to transport drugs and money, was found guilty today by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of possession with intent to supply controlled drugs.
Hay, 31, from Ashtead, was remanded in custody by Judge Gregory Stone QC and told he must expect a custodial sentence.
Mandy Cripps, 34, from High Wycombe, Richard Seville, 42, from Islington, north London, Peter Gilmour, 36, from High Wycombe, and Lindsay Graham, 42, from Sutton, Surrey, were cleared of any involvement in the gang earlier this week.
All the convicted defendants will be sentenced 'within two or three weeks', the judge said.

The gang: Terrence Bowler, Peter Moran, Mark Kinnimont and Liam Salter, with (from left bottom row) David Couchman, Timothy Sullivan, Asim Bashir and Roger Alexander, members of a ang believed to be Britain's most prolific importers of skunk cannabis who were facing jail today