ONE of the biggest drug rings in the UK was run from a derelict farm on the outskirts of Swindon in a slick £30m criminal operation, a court heard yesterday.

Ten tonnes of cannabis was carried on Dutch flower lorries and transferred from Harwich port in Essex to an industrial unit for storage in Ramsbury over a number of months, prosecutor Simon Edwards told Bristol Crown Court.

The Class-B drug was then transported and packaged at Poplar Farm in Wanborough before its onward supply, Mr Edwards said.

Four men – David Barnes, 41, of New Hayward Farm, Hungerford, Michael Woodage, 51, of Hartley Meadows, Whitchurch, Hampshire, Christopher Wills, 29, of Bracknell, Berkshire, and Stephen Docking, 45, of Northfleet, Kent – each deny conspiracy to supply cannabis.

“This case focuses on the storage and distribution of cannabis skunk,” said Mr Edwards.

“Ten tonnes were being moved between August 2008 and May 2009, worth in the region of £30m. The set-up was highly sophisticated.”

Wills was arrested after he drove along the M25. There was a bag of cash in the rear of his vehicle and he was arrested for money laundering. This came after police had watched him acting suspiciously on the same day on March 16, last year.

A search of his house by police found more than £200,000 in cash and a black book, believed to be used as a financial ledger. Police also stopped Docking travelling towards London on the M4 motorway after 6pm on Friday, April 24, last year, said Mr Edwards.

They searched the vehicle to find six large cardboard boxes containing cannabis skunk.

Officers had also observed another transit van travel from Kelvin Road, Greenbridge, to Poplar Farm. A warrant was later executed the same day to search the premises, Mr Edwards said.

The jury of six men and six women were told by Mr Edwards that the farm building had been substantially reinforced. Every window and door had been blocked up and the exterior of the building was covered by a small hi-tech infra red CCTV camera system. The entrance was through two large steel doors.

Police found a forklift truck, six pallets of cardboard boxes, a roll of black cellophane wrap and wooden crates with one containing shipping invoices relating to the transportation of flowers from Breda in Holland to the UK.

After the initial search proved significant police deemed it not suitable to carry out a full forensic examination in the middle of the night.

Mr Edwards told the court that police secured the scene overnight. Shortly before 6am the next day police saw a transit van driven by Woodage pull into Poplar Farm.

He told officers he was there to clear stuff away for a friend but an inspection of the van found two pallets wrapped in black wrapping and a number of large cardboard boxes. More than 200 kilograms of cannabis skunk was discovered and he was arrested.

Barnes, who the prosecution describe as the managing director of the gang, was arrested by Heathrow Police as he drove out of the airport at 1.40pm on April 28.

THE prosecution case centres around phone communication they believe to connect the men to Poplar Farm. Pay-as-you-go phones were used by the gang to contact numbered customers. Those operating in Poplar Farm maintained ledgers detailing customer numbers, dates, weights and prices. The ledgers evidenced the size, organisation and sophistication of the criminal enterprise, the prosecution say. Collections were arranged with customers using unregistered mobile phones. Each customer would be allocated a particular phone for one to contact. A further measure was put in place with the passing of a predetermined code to act as confirmation of identification or receipt of money. This is believed to be a bank note serial number. Another part of the case against the men is that couriers would enter Swindon at a predetermined location set up by a post code. The courier would be met by the occupants of another van. The courier driver would then swap places and the courier’s van would be driven back to Poplar Farm to enable the cannabis to be loaded up. The prosecution say this shows the couriers had no knowledge of Poplar Farm’s location. The courier’s van would then be returned to him a short time later.

l The case continues.