Dutch flower lorry cannabis smuggler jailed

A man has been jailed for his part in trying to smuggle £1.4m worth of cannabis into the UK in the back of a Dutch flower lorry.

Police observed cardboard boxes containing the drugs being transferred from the lorry into Mohammed Abdulrehman's van.

Abdulrehman, 25, of Golbourne Avenue, Manchester, was arrested at Cirencester Services off the A417 in October.

He was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court to two years in jail.

Abdulrehman pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession with intent to supply cannabis and attempted possession with intent to supply cannabis.

A total of 141kg of of herbal cannabis was seized by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, who had received intelligence about the handover.

Det Insp Paul Catton said: "The drugs had been meticulously packaged in vacuum sealed bags to disguise the smell, and stems of fresh flowers had been placed on top of the bags, visible through the boxes, to try and make the packages fit in with the rest of the lorry's load."

The seized fresh flowers were handed out to various local organisations, including Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Services and a youth and community cafe.

The court heard Abdulrehman acted as a courier, in order to make £700 towards paying off a business debt of £15,000.

The lorry driver, John Lader, 51, of Voorschoten in the Netherlands, was given a suspended sentence last month for his part in the operation.