Quinton man was involved in running major UK drugs factory

Andrew Gurney, of Middle Meadow Avenue, has been convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine and money laundering.

The 51-year-old, known as The Geek, used his specialist electrical installation and plumbing skills to converted what had been a double garage outbuilding into an illicit drugs laboratory near Redditch.

National Crime Agency investigators identified encrypted messaging platform EncroChat was being used to run the drugs lab which was capable of producing 400 kilos of amphetamine per month, worth £2 million at wholesale and up to £10 million at street level.

The drugs were distributed to dealers in the West Midlands, London and Kent.

Group ringleader John Keet, aged 41, of Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire, invested profits from a career dealing cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines into building and managing the lab.

He paid for his right hand man, Keith Davis, aged 62, also of Chalfont St Giles, to undergo chemistry training to enable him to operate the site.

Gurney, as well as converting the garage into the lab, also received the same chemistry training as Davis.

Elliott Walker, aged 49, of Kidbrooke, south London, was an associate of Keet and purchased specialist equipment for the lab.

Keith Davis, Elliott Walker and Andrew Gurney. Pic - NCA

Work started on the building in March 2020 and it began producing drugs in May of that year. The gang initially bought amphetamine pre-cursor chemical benzyl methyl ketone but quickly realised it was more profitable to make it themselves.

NCA officers raided the site in Ullenhall Lane, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, on April 27 last year, with assistance from Warwickshire Police.

Plumes of noxious fumes billowed from the outbuilding when it was opened by specialist crews from West Midlands Fire Service, who had to wait several hours before searching it due to the hazardous chemicals inside. Waste products from the production process, which had been flushed into the sewerage system, had also contaminated a nearby field.

The NCA’s investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK law enforcement response to the July 2020 takedown of the EncroChat encrypted communication service.

NCA branch commander Matt McMillan said: “This investigation painstakingly identified that an unassuming outbuilding in rural Warwickshire was in fact one of the largest drugs laboratories ever found in the UK.

“Keet, Davis and Gurney went to extraordinary lengths to plan and prepare their criminal enterprise. Although it was capable of generating large profits for them, the drugs produced will have fuelled violence, fear and exploitation in communities across the UK.

“Searching and closing down the lab, which was a complex and risky operation, was a great example of multi-agency cooperation to protect the public.”

The gang members were all arrested on suspicion of drug offences at their home addresses on the same day.

Electronic weighing scales were found in Davis’ home, along with 300 kilos of BMK at a storage facility he had access to.

Numerous documents and receipts were found in Gurney’s vehicles - relating to heating equipment identified in the lab, weighing scales and chemicals needed for amphetamine production. Officers also found PPE, including respirators and wellington boots with chemical traces of amphetamine on them.

Davis and Gurney were convicted at Kingston Crown Court on June following a 12-day trial.

Keet pleaded guilty to all the charges at the same court on October 29 last year.

Walker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce class B drugs (amphetamine) on September 17 last year and was jailed for six years on December 14.

Davis and Gurney are due to be sentenced on June 10.

Keet is due to be sentenced on August 22.