A father and son have been sentence after authorities uncovered more than £20million worth of heroin stashed inside cartons of pomegranate juice.
Colin Bartlett, 54, and Lee Bartlett, 30, were involved in an organised crime group that smuggled pomegranate juice containing heroin from Afghanistan into Britain.
In May 2023, authorities recovered more than 420kg of heroin from a shipping container in Birmingham.
The estimated street value of the haul is believed to be just over £20.3million.
Colin Bartlett, 54, and Lee Bartlett, 30, were involved in an organised crime group
|NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, the pair were sentenced after being found guilty of participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group in August 2025.
The duo were also found not guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug.
According to the National Crime Agency, 11 paid workers arrested while unloading the container with the Bartletts are not believed to have been involved in the conspiracy to import controlled drugs.
NCA officers watched the father and son as they began to unload a container containing 2.6 tonnes of pomegranate juice, before moving in to arrest them.
The father and son were seen unloading d a container containing 2.6 tonnes of pomegranate juice
|NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
The drugs were hidden in the liquid, mixed in with legitimate bottles, the NCA has said.
NCA Branch Commander Derek Evans said: “These men were part of an organised crime group seeking to import huge quantities of heroin into the UK, potentially generating millions of pounds of criminal profit and endangering vulnerable people across the country.
“Tackling class A drug trafficking is a priority for the NCA and we will continue to do all we can to stop those who try to import it."
The NCA is now appealing to the public for help in tracing two men wanted in connection with the ongoing investigation.
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The drugs were hidden in the liquid, mixed in with legitimate bottles, the NCA has said
|NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
Shamut Khan, 56, and Matiullah Zamankhel, 23, both from Birmingham’s Washwood Heath area, are wanted for failing to answer bail in November 2023.
Mr Evans said: “These men are known to have associations and links to the Alum Rock and Shaw Hill Road areas of Birmingham, but they may be further afield.
“Khan and Zamankhel will know they are wanted by the NCA and should be absolutely certain that we won’t rest until we have tracked them down.
“If members of the public do see Khan and Zamankhel, we ask them to contact us straight away.
“We know these men come from a close-knit community and we would like to remind anyone helping them, or frustrating our attempts to locate him, that they could also find themselves being arrested.”
According to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, up to 23 tonnes of heroin is imported into the UK every year.
The EU’s drug market report estimates Britain’s heroin market is worth at least £4 billion a year.
Much of the heroin that makes its way into the country originates from Afghanistan, where it is then usually trafficked through Iran, Pakistan, and sometimes Central Asia before reaching Europe.
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