By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-27 03:57:29 | Updated at 2026-09-27 04:33:03
50 minutes ago
A criminal gang has been jailed after plotting to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Britain in frozen fish.
The four-man gang has now been handed sentences ranging from 13 to 22 years after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police first launched in 2020.
The Met said a significant part of the investigation focused on one conspiracy, dubbed the "Fish Conspiracy".
The men were jailed for conspiracy to import Class A drugs at east London's Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday.
Samuel Tokeley, 57, of Alicante, Spain, and Nicholas Shilling, 63, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, were each jailed for 22 years.
Scott Richards, 51, of Wickford, Essex, was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years, and Scott Unwin, 52, of Dagenham, Essex, was jailed for 13 years.
Tokeley, Unwin and Shilling planned to import approximately 600 kilograms of cocaine from South America in frozen fish shipments.
This importation alone, worth more than £20million, would be sent to Unwin's legitimate fish business at Billingsgate, the Met revealed.
Sam Tokeley was jailed for 22 years
MET POLICE
Nicholas Shilling was also jailed for 22 years
MET POLICE
The scheme was uncovered when encrypted conversations were spotted on the now-dismantled EncroChat platform.
The Met said its officers used detailed examination of message content, mobile phone evidence, surveillance, and other supporting intelligence to identify the men.
Although encrypted messages showed the group discussing payments, shipping documentation, logistics and contacts in Ecuador responsible for sourcing the cocaine, the importation never happened, the Met said.
The force's investigations also uncovered a separate conspiracy to import "industrial quantities" of ketamine into Britain.
Scott Richards was jailed for 14-and-half years
MET POLICE
Scott Unwin was jailed for 13 years
MET POLICE
Hundreds of kilograms of the Class B-controlled substance would be sourced, then processed on the continent and imported into Britain for wholesale distribution, the Met said.
Richards and Unwin were arrested on August 31, 2023, at addresses in Colchester and Dagenham.
Tokeley and Shilling, meanwhile, were arrested in Spain by the Spanish National Police, supported by the National Crime Agency and Met Police, and later returned to the UK under extradition warrants.
In addition to the charges for conspiracy to import Class A drugs, Unwin and Richards were sentenced for conspiracy to acquire criminal property, while Richards and Tokeley were also sentenced for the import and supply of Class B drugs.
Tokeley was the only one sentenced for conspiracy to be concerned in criminal property, the Met added.
Detective Chief Inspector Dean Grafton from the Met's specialist crime unit, said the investigation "exposed an organised crime group operating on an industrial scale".
He said: "The defendants believed that encrypted communication platforms would protect them as they discussed vast quantities of drugs, laundering criminal profits and exploiting legitimate businesses to facilitate their offending.
"Through meticulous analysis of EncroChat data and close collaboration with the National Crime Agency and our international law enforcement partners, we were able to identify those responsible and gather overwhelming evidence against them, to ensure they were put behind bars.
"These sentences reflect the scale and sophistication of this criminality and demonstrate our relentless determination to pursue organised crime groups wherever they operate."
