Six men have been sentenced to a combined 18 years and 8 months in prison for their role in large-scale production and distribution of cannabis worth up to £1.9m
Evidence presented by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) demonstrated how motor trade policies were used fraudulently to help facilitate drugs trafficking
Fraud is frequently linked to serious crime yet only 20% of incidents get reported
Six members of a Bristol-based organised crime group who fraudulently used trade motor insurance policies to help traffic drugs have been sentenced to a combined 18 years and 8 months in prison following an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) supported by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB).
The IFB first became involved in the case following suspicions that a gang were fraudulently using motor trade insurance to support a large-scale cannabis production and distribution operation between Merseyside and Bristol.
IFB experts worked swiftly to uncover evidence of how members of the crime group (for whom none were motor traders) had used motor trade policies to insure ten vehicles; believed to help distance their identities from the vehicles being used and evade ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) detection for no insurance.
The IFB’s findings were presented at Liverpool Crown Court and were said by police to have strengthened the prosecution’s case by demonstrating the gang’s sophisticated efforts to evade getting caught.
All six men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis with Luca Fioravanti also pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis. They each received a custodial prison sentence and will be stripped of illegally gained money and assets:
- Mario Fioruci, 37, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison
- Alessandro Carbone, 46, was sentenced to four years in prison
- Luca Fioravanti, 37, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison
- Edi Daka, 46, of Dudley Court, Barrs Court, South Gloucestershire, was sentenced to three years in prison
- Arjan Dishmima, 42, was sentenced to 22 months in prison
- Eno Suma, 35, was sentenced to 22 months in prison
Stephen Dalton, Head of Intelligence and Investigations at the IFB, said:
“As shown in this investigation, insurance fraud can sadly help to facilitate some of the most serious forms of criminality out there. Fortunately, because we work so closely with police forces and insurers’ we can disrupt fraudulent activity fast which can also break fraudsters’ links to wider crime. We want to protect as many people as possible from the impact of fraud. If anyone has evidence of an insurance scam we strongly encourage them to report it.”
Detective Inspector Charlotte Tucker from the SW ROCU said:
“This group were producing cannabis with a street value of more than £1million each harvest, meaning huge amounts of money going back into serious and organised crime, as well as large amounts of the drug being sold in our communities.
“The evidence provided by the IFB showed the lengths the group were going to, to try and distance themselves from the vehicles being used to transport people and drugs to and from the huge cannabis grow. However, in the end, such evidence actually helped to strengthen the case against them.”