A 'courier' who went on the run to Marbella after a huge cocaine smuggling plot was uncovered by the National Crime Agency has lost an appeal against his sentence.
Craig Simpson acted as a 'buffer' between drug dealers and customers in a slick operation which saw crates of the Class A drug flown into Manchester Airport from Amsterdam.
Up to 40 kilos of cocaine was concealed within each crate during five deliveries which were made during 2017. But when police infiltrated the operation, Simpson, 47, went on to the run and remained at large for four years.
He was arrested in Marbella in October 2021 and extradited back to the UK. And, following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, he was found guilty of knowingly encouraging or assisting in the commission of a crime. READ MORE: Member of alleged high-level criminal gang found with cocaine under spare wheel of Porsche, trial hears READ MORE: Criminals used secret language on EncroChat to arrange gun and drug deals Jurors found that he did not know the crates contained cocaine, and he was not convicted of smuggling the drug.
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