What is believed to be the largest drug smuggling operation in the UK has been busted, with the members jailed for a combined total of 202 years with more sentences yet to be passed down.

The gang smuggled around £7 billion worth of illegaldrugs into BritainBritain over a two-and-a-half year period with heroin, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines chief among their illicit goods.

They used a series of false identities to set up front companies and warehouses in the Netherlands and the UK, hiding the drugs within pallets of produce shipped across the sea and brought to the warehouses by haulage firms, which were unaware of the cargo they were transporting.

The criminals would often hide their drugs in deliveries of onions, garlic and ginger so that the pungent aroma of the produce would cover up the smell of the drugs.

They imported so much produce that they would have to send much of it back, which then resulted in it being used again for further drug shipments.

The gang smuggled vast quantities of drugs into the UK, hiding them inside deliveries of onions, garlic and ginger. (National Crime Agency/PA Wire)

Prosecutors said the operations were carried out between March 2016 and September 2018, and were orchestrated by a 59-year-old man named Paul Green, known as ‘the big fella’.

Whenever one of their front companies was caught out they’d switch to another one, and while there were only six seizures of drugs, investigators were able to prove that at least 240 shipments took place.

A total of 18 gang members have been convicted, with 11 already sentenced and the rest due to receive their punishments later this month.

At sentencing, Judge Paul Lawton told the gang members: “Your main purpose was the importation of controlled drugs on an international, and hitherto unprecedented, scale with a value of at least £2 billion and potentially as high as £7 billion.

“The harm caused beyond the importation is incalculable.

“What you were actually distributing was addiction, misery, social degradation and death.”

Green was jailed for 32 years, while his ‘right hand man’ Steven Martin was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and the man in charge of distribution, Muhammad Ovais, received a 27 year sentence.

Paul Green, nicknamed ‘the big man’, was the ringleader of the gang and received a 32 year prison sentence. (National Crime Agency/PA Wire)

Others sentenced include Russell Leonard and Oliver Penter, who both received a 24 year sentence, Dutch gang members Johannes Vesters and Barbara Rijnbout who received 20 years and 18 years in prison respectively, and Alan Cumming (not that one) who will be jailed for 21 years.

Leslie Kewin, who helped organise the front companies, died before sentencing.

Green, who had previously changed his name from Simon Swift to James Russell and then to Paul Green, was the point of contact for several organised criminal groups (OCG) who would pay to ship drugs from the Netherlands to the UK.

He ended up renting a hotel room in Widnes, Cheshire, so he could use the wi-fi there without it being traced back to his home address.

Richard Harrison, regional head of investigations for the National Crime Agency, said: “This was an extremely high-harm OCG that used every tactic possible to evade detection and cheat justice.

“The offenders smuggled huge quantities of drugs into the UK. They had absolutely no ethics. They stooped incredibly low and left a trail of devastation for entirely innocent people by cloning businesses and stealing identities.

“NCA officers and Dutch partners were tenacious and left no stone unturned in this investigation.”

The Los Angeles Police Department has provided a big update on the Hawaii woman who went missing from an airport last month.

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, was reported missing after arriving at Los Angeles Airport from Maui on Nov 8, and failing to board her connecting flight to New York.

Her father Ryan Kobayashi, 58, whotravelled to Los Angeles to look for her,was found dead last Sunday (24 November).

His body was found at the bottom of a car park at LAX airport.

Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said the manner of his death was suicide.

Hannah Kobayashi, 31, has been missing since the start of last month (Instagram)

The photographer was travelling on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend, who purchased the tickets before they broke up.

He has been cooperating with policeafter receiving cryptic text messages from her phone about a ‘spiritual awakening’.

The last Hannah was seen was via CCTV at LAX airport.

However, the LAPD last night (2 December) shared an update on the missing woman, who was last seen crossing the Mexico border.

“We reviewed video surveillance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said during a news conference.

Hannah missed her connecting flight (Missing People In America/Facebook)

“She was alone with her luggage and appeared unharmed.

“Our priority is ensuring Ms. Kobayashi’s safety and well-being.

“We urge Ms. Kobayashi to contact her family, law enforcement or personnel at the US Embassy to let us know she is safe.

“She has the right to privacy, and we respect her choices, but we also understand the concern her loved ones feel.

“A simple message could reassure those who care about her.”

This comes after family members and friends received cryptic text messages, that ‘didn’t sound like Hannah’.

One message read: “I got hacked, stripped of my identity, I can’t fly.”

Another: “I got tricked pretty much into giving away my funds for someone I thought I loved. I’ve been on the streets.

“Over the past several weeks, the MPU has been investigating the report of Kobayashi, who traveled on a pre scheduled flight to Los Angeles from Maui on 8 November, 2024,” the force added.

Police has provided a big update (Instagram)

“From 8 November to the 11th video footage and still imagery showed Hannah at various locations around Los Angeles.

“This information was subsequently verified by LAPD detectives.

“For unknown reasons, she decided not to board her pre scheduled flight to New York. While she did check her bag through to New York, she requested her bag be sent back to her at LAX where we have surveillance footage of her retrieving it from the baggage carrousel on 11 November.

“The investigation further revealed that Kobayashi knowingly departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on 11 November, 2024, with her luggage and traveled to Union Station.

“While at Union Station, she used her passport to purchase a bus ticket for a destination near the Mexico border. On the morning of 12 November, 2024, she traveled by bus from Union Station to San Ysidro, California.

“Shortly after arriving in San Ysidro, she crossed the border into Mexico.”

A man who vanished nearly three decades ago when he was just 17 has been found alive in his neighbour’s cellar.

Omar Bin Omran suddenly disappeared from the Algerian city of Djelfa in 1997, while en route to a vocational school, according to local media – leaving his family fearing he was dead.

His loved ones presumed that the then-youngster had been killed in the crossfire of the civil war, which raged between the government and rebel groups for 10 years after kicking off in the early 1990s.

But the answer to the mystery of the missing man lied a lot a closer to home – in fact, it was just 300 feet from where the family lived.

Omar was rescued on 12 May after being missing for nearly three decades (EnnaharTv)

On Sunday (12 May), Omar was rescued from his 61-year-old neighbour’s property, 27 years after he initially disappeared.

The now-45-year-old, seen with a beard, is reported to have been in a hay-covered contraption similar to a ‘sheep pen’ in the cellar of the man’s home.

Harrowing video footage of the moment Omar was found has been shared on social media, which shows him nervously looking upwards as a host of torches are shined towards him.

He looks noticeably different from other images which have began circulating online of him from his younger years, that show the clean-shaven young lad smiling as he sits beside a large dog.

It has been alleged that his whereabouts were only brought to light after the suspect’s brother made claims on social media, hinting that the homeowner knew where Omar was while they argued over inheritance.

According to the Djelfa Attorney General’s Office, the 61-year-old man – who lived alone – was taken into custody.

Omar before his disappearance. (EnnaharTv)

Prosecutors say that cops stormed the property and found a trapdoor hidden underneath some hay which littered the floor, before opening it to find Omar.

He was rushed to a medical centre for evaluation where he is being given both physical and psychological treatments.

A court official in Djelfa told local media: “The suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.”

He added that prosecutors intend to bring the full force of the law down on the perpetrator of the ‘heinous crime’, who will be tried with ‘severity’.

The alleged abductor has also been accused of killing Omar’s beloved dog, who was pictured with him as a teen.

Tragically, the missing man’s mother passed away in 2013, according to locals.

A resident told Algerian TV station Bilad: “His poor mum died while he was in captivity, without knowing what had happened to him, without knowing that all this time he was really right beside her.”

A man who had a heart attack when he was just 22 told people about the symptoms he suffered.

You might think that heart attacks are for people who are older, unhealthier or just generally not you, but they can strike those who least expect it.

Quitting smoking, losing weight, cutting down on alcohol, getting regular exercise and a healthy diet will all help your chances, but you can’t be 100 percent guaranteed that it won’t happen to you.

TikToker Tom Birchy talked his followers through the terrifying tale, and made sure they were in no doubt as to the symptoms to watch out for.

Don’t do ‘carrier bags’, kids. (TikTok/@tombirchy)

“I was 22 years old working in a high stress job in the music industry, and I was using carrier bags,” he explained, and at this point we should say that ‘carrier bags’ is TikTok slang for something else that I’m sure you can hazard a guess about.

“Too much, twice or three times a week, but it fit into the party lifestyle ‘oh music industry I’m so cool’.

“I woke up one morning and my arms felt tight, the back of my elbow especially was numb. It went down my arms and I was banging them on the sofa and I couldn’t be comfortable sitting up, lying down or standing up, and so I called the ambulance.

“The ambulance came and they said ‘oh, you’re not having a heart attack, we’ll take you to hospital anyway’.”

Tom said that when he got to the hospital they took some blood samples and once they got the result back they quickly injected him with something to stop his blood from clotting.

The 22-year-old spent a week in hospital hooked up to machines and he was ‘so lucky my heart was not severely damaged’.

Chest pains are the most common symptom of a heart attack. (Getty Stock Photo)

In the end, it had turned out to be a heart attack he’d suffered, and he felt a ‘pressure on your chest and in your arms’ as well as getting a ‘fear of impending doom’ where he felt like he was going to die.

Describing the ordeal as ‘truly a terrifying experience’, he urged people to understand they were ‘not invincible’ and ‘not gonna live forever’.

He said: “If smashing the carrier bags every week end you think is a great idea, all it takes is one day for that to happen to you and you might not be as lucky as me.”

According to the NHS some of the symptoms of a heart attack are chest pain, including feelings of tightness, heaviness, squeezing or pressure across your chest.

There may also be a feeling that the pain is spreading to other parts of your body, while you may also feel sick or lightheaded.

You might also experience ‘an overwhelming feeling of anxiety’ like you’re having a panic attack, symptoms will vary from person to person but chest pain is the most common sign.

If you think you’re having a heart attack, the advice is to call an ambulance and then if you have it, slowly chew a tablet of aspirin before swallowing it.