Drugs found as part of the drugs ring police operation

by Paul Hooper

A drugs gang – responsible for a £6m drugs operation in Kent – has today been jailed for 60 years in total.

There were gasps in the public gallery at Canterbury Crown Court when Rodney Stacey and Patrick Goodman, who had masterminded the drugs network, were handed jail terms of 18 and 19 years respectively.

Undercover officers from Kent and Sussex’s Serious Organised Crime Unit had spent 18 months hunting down and prosecuting the illegal network.

Stacey, 37, from Victoria Road, Folkestone and Goodman, 64, from Paddock Wood were sentenced for a string of money-laundering and drug smuggling charges.

The two had used legitimate haulage businesses to hide the shipments bringing in cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and cannabis through Dover.

Judge Heather Norton then praised two investigating police officers, DC David Friend and DC Charlotte Warren.

“These networks can bring misery to many, many people’s lives and any actions to bring them down should be commended.”

Drugs gang members Rodney Stacey, Patrick Goodman and Michael Rodemark

Drugs gang members Mark Birch, Stephen Powers and Andrew Hamilton

Also in the dock were Stephen Powers 57, of Bromley Green Road, Ruckinge, and Andrew Hamilton 66, of Sellindge, Ashford and Mark Birch, 49, of Longfield Place, Maidstone; who receive sentences totalling 23 years.

During the long trial, the jury heard how police were first alerted in February 2011, when a lorry entering the UK at the Port of Dover was stopped and searched by UK Border Agency officers.

They found a holdall with a GPS tracking device containing 16 kilos of cocaine concealed behind the cab of the vehicle.

The drugs, found wrapped in silver foil, had an estimated street value of £2.3million.

The driver was then arrested and interviewed and denied all knowledge of the drugs, but mobile phone details - including one number saved under the name 'Boss Man' - were found to be registered to Stacey.

The following month, another drug-runner was stopped by French authorities attempting to smuggle around 80 kilos of amphetamine between France and Belgium.

During extensive surveillance by officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Organised Crime Unit, Stacey was seen in a number of meetings with Goodman in cafes around the Ashford area.

Goodman, of Mill Oak Road, Paddock Wood, was also spotted over several months meeting several of the defendants, where cash or drugs was exchanged.

The BMW after a police chase which left the vehicle crashed in Aldington

On December 12 2011, one member of the group, Russell Hollands, 53, was arrested after officers found £152,000 worth of ecstasy tablets disguised as coffee in a van following a meeting with Goodman.

Hollands, formerly of Lurkins Rise, Cranbrook, was later sentenced to 56 months in jail for possession with intent to supply.

In a dramatic twist to the investigation, on May 3 last year officers tried stopping Stacey in his black BMW X5 in Aldington using their cars to block him in.

But Stacey tried to flee by reversing into two police cars, almost running over an officer and causing damage to both vehicles.

The BMW then drove off, but as it approached a tight bend it careered through a hedge and landed in a ditch.

The force of the crash flung the vehicle’s boot open - revealing a blue holdall containing nearly five kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.47m.

Stacey was arrested as he tried running through a nearby field - with more drugs found stored in a freezer during a search.

Also on May 3, Stephen Powers was arrested at his car dealership in Ivychurch where £5,000 stored in a carrier bag was found.

He was jailed for eight years, Birch for 10 years and Hamilton for five years. Earlier and at a separate hearing Michael Rodemark, 58, of Tonbridge – who gave prosecution evidence during the trial of other members of the gang, was jailed for 40 months.