Crooks used foie gras to smuggle cocaine into Newhaven

Four men who imported a tour or cocaine with a value on the street of approximately 8 million have imprisoned their legs.

Jean-Pierre Labelle, 48, Tanvir Hussain, 46, Michael Keating, 56, and his brother Matthew Keating, 49, were sentenced Friday at Hove Crown Court.

The drugs were hidden in foie gras and duck breasts and entered the port of Newhaven, East Sussex, in November 2019 in a transit truck.

Mark Ruff, a superior officer of the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: “The coverage load of Foie Gras and Duck Breast is very unusual and the border force colleagues did an excellent job to see it.”

The officers discovered 97 drug packages, each with a weight of approximately 1 kg, in the truck which was traveling from Dieppe in France.

Michael Keating, or Springwell Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, had a 24 -year sentence for importing cocaine.

He organized the import, obtained drugs through international connections and used the Invochat encrypted communications platform to plan its drug careers, said the NCA.

Duration of a search in their home, the officers said they had taken advantage of more than 50,000 in cash.

Labelle, or Ashey Road, Ryde, Wight Island, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for importing cocaine, which he admitted in October 2023.

Hussain, or Cressex Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for importing cocaine.

The couple had bought the truck that was used to smuggle drugs, NCA said.

The Keating brothers had also conspired to import 80 kg of ketamine, according to the NCA.

Matthew Keating, or High Street, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for conspiracy to import class B drugs.

James Satterly, 55, or Kings Lane, Cookham, in Maidhead, Berkshire, was accused of importing class A drugs in November 2019, but was declared innocent on February 16, 2024.

The NCA said they would continue working “at home and abroad to correct the threat” of drugs.

“Class A drug trade feeds violence and misery in every step of the road to the United Kingdom,” Ruff added.