Philip Baron, 58, was caught following a five-year investigation. Twenty-eight other members of his gang have been convicted.
According to the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), as reported by the BBC, the gang had smuggled drugs over the past 15 years and laundered millions in illegal profits. Baron’s drug ring ran from South America to Spain and then the UK.
Baron’s life of luxury included homes in the UK, Republic of Ireland, and Spain. William Baker, a prosecutor, said Baron was “one of the organizers of a highly sophisticated criminal enterprise” and “It was a highly profitable enterprise that generated huge sums of cash.”
The cocaine originated in Costa Rica, where Baron travelled in November 2008, the UK’s Dailymail reported Thursday. The authorities found the discovered cocaine to be 83 percent pure- while average street level seizures are less than 10 percent pure. Police say the operation was in the top 10 biggest ever uncovered in the UK.
Irish authorities believe Baron was running a company that sold deckchairs to Spain. He fought extradition to the UK by living in Ireland for two years, and was brought back in November 2012.
Baron confessed to three counts including conspiracy to import cocaine between March and November 2008, conspiracy to import cannabis between September 2005 and September 2009, and money laundering.
