Michael Keating, 56; his brother Matthew, 49; Tanvir Hussain, 46; and Pierre Labelle, 48, were sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Friday after an investigation by the NCA revealed they were behind a failed attempt to smuggle 97kg of cocaine into the UK.
Border Force officers stopped their van in November 2019 as it entered Newhaven in East Sussex from Dieppe.
Upon removing the load of expensive delicacy from the vehicle, officers discovered the drugs hidden beneath a false floor.
Mark Ruff, a senior officer from the NCA, said: “The cover load of foie gras and duck breast is highly unusual and Border Force colleagues did a superb job in seeing through it and the concealed floor.”
The NCA investigation showed the driver of the van was not involved in the offence.
The offenders were traced as part of Operation Venetic, which the NCA launched after the takedown of the encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
Michael Keating, of Uxbridge in Middlesex, used the platform to organise the plot and source the drugs through international connections, according to the NCA.
Hussain, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, bought the van along with Labelle, who is from the Isle of Wight.
Keating’s younger brother Matthew also had an EncroChat phone, and they also used the platform to plan an 80kg importation of ketamine.
During a search of Michael Keating’s home, officers seized more than £50,000 cash and a notebook that appeared to contain EncroChat handles.
He and Hussain were convicted after trial of conspiring to import cocaine at Hove Crown Court in February 2024.
Michael Keating was sentenced on Friday to 24 years’ imprisonment.
Hussain was jailed for 10 years.
Labelle admitted conspiracy to import cocaine in October 2023 and was jailed for 17 years.
Keating’s brother Matthew pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import ketamine in January 2024 and was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/crime/cocaine-foie-gras-drug-smuggling-traffickers-jailed-newhaven-sussex/
