Men from Sydenham, Catford and Northfleet, who were part of an organised criminal network that supplied cocaine with a potential street value of £1.2 million, have been jailed.
Ryan Southam-Smith, 34, of Mountacre Close, Sydenham, Ben Donovan, 35, of Moremead Road, Catford, and Baljinder Bhamra, 40, of Cherrywood Drive, Northfleet, were arrested following an investigation by officers from the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate.
All three were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court yesterday (July 7) after admitting their part in a conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
On February 12 this year, officers stopped Bhamra in his car in Crossways Boulevard, Dartford, and placed him under arrest after finding a blue sports bag in the boot containing just over 2kg of cocaine.
Ben Donovan
On March 3, Southam-Smith and Donovan were both seen to attend the Ingress Park area of Greenhithe.
Southam-Smith was arrested as he entered an underground car park off Watermans Way.
Eight packages containing a substance later confirmed as cocaine were found concealed in a Christmas tree box in his vehicle. Three mobile telephones and a number of sealable bags containing cocaine were also found within the boot.
In total the packages were later confirmed to contain 9kg of cocaine.
In a separate vehicle parked nearby, cash totalling £16,000 was found concealed within the floor space.
Donovan was arrested a short time later in Schooner Court, Dartford.
Baljinder Bhamra
Two Rolex watches worth a total of almost £50,000 were discovered during a search of his home address in addition to several bundles of cash totalling almost £7,000.
Following the arrests of Donovan and Southam-Smith, officers executed a warrant at an industrial unit in Swanscombe and found more than £4,800 cash and two smaller bags of cocaine.
Yesterday, Southam-Smith was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison.
Donovan was sentenced to seven years and four months.
Bhamra was sentenced to five years and 10 months.
The cocaine
Senior investigating officer Detective Sergeant Jason Booth said: "Drugs ruin lives and these men – Smith and Donovan in particular – clearly benefited financially from the misery of others.
"We take a zero tolerance approach to the supply of drugs throughout Kent and the seriousness of the offences committed is reflected in the prison sentences passed down by the judge.
"I hope this case sends a clear message to other dealers that your crimes do not go unnoticed and will catch up with you in the end."
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