Undercover camera catches South Yorks coke plot duo in the act

Philip Hadley (right) and Robert Rich operated on the outside while Russell Knaggs helped organise the plan to import the cocaine from Colombia via Costa Rica, the USA and Germany from his cell at Lowdham Grange Prison in Nottinghamshire, where he was already serving a 16-year sentence for drug trafficking.

Knaggs (38), Hadley (52), both from Conisbrough and Rich from Barnsley, face lengthy jail terms when they are sentenced next Friday after being convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine along with another criminal associate.

Knaggs helped organise the plan to import the cocaine from Colombia via Costa Rica, the USA, and Germany, from his cell at Lowdham Grange Prison in Nottinghamshire, where he was already serving a 16-year sentence for drug trafficking.

He and gang members on the outside referred to the plan as a “plastering job” to avoid being caught, but were unaware they were being monitored by the authorities.

Knaggs, of March Gate, Conisbrough, Hadley, of New Hill, Conisbrough and Robert Rich, (40), from Burton Road, Barnsley were found guilty of conspiracy on Wednesday to import cocaine after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, according to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency.

A fourth man, Anthony Perger (51), from Hall Road, Sheffield, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.

All four will be sentenced next Friday.

Their plan was to ship cocaine in batches from Colombia to Costa Rica where it would be concealed in consignments of fruit, SOCA said.

Each batch was to be placed in a container on a ship heading for Longbeach, USA, where it was due to be put on a larger ship going to Hamburg.

The group then planned to transport the cocaine to the UK in smaller loads hidden inside cars.

They failed, after losing the down payment on the first batch of cocaine when their Colombian contact was gunned down by a rival cartel.

Despite further attempts, Knaggs eventually called things off, SOCA said.

SOCA and its partners monitored them in the UK and when the men travelled overseas, gathering evidence from coded conversations and meetings.

According to the agency, the group talked of making a “f*****g shed load of dough.”

During the investigation, prison staff searched cells and recovered a blueprint for importing cocaine, a list of Colombian drug contacts and notebooks containing flight details and locations for meetings.

All four men were arrested and charged within months of Knaggs’ release from jail in June 2010.

Gerry Smyth, SOCA's North East Regional Head of Investigations, said that national and international partnerships had been vital.

Three other men were cleared.

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