Police uncovered big drugs conspiracy after pulling over Mercedes

ERRATIC DRIVING LED TO FIVE GANG MEMBERS BEING JAILED

- By RUCSANDRA MOLDOVEANU

FIVE members of a drugs gang have been jailed after a car was pulled over in Nottinghamshire.

A silver Mercedes seen being driven erratically was stopped by officers in West Bridgford on January 26, 2023.

The driver ran off, leaving a 16-year-old girl, who was suspected to have been illegally trafficked into the UK, behind. The lead conspirator of a drugs gang, 29-year-old Hai Quoc Tran, was then linked to the car after his fingerprints were examined by forensic officers.

Another vehicle of interest was stopped in Redhill in July the same year following an investigation by officers at Nottinghamshire Police’s Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Team. The car contained Hai Quoc Tran and accomplice Thi Hong Trang Nguyen, 38.

Two mobile phones were also recovered and contained evidence of large-scale drug dealing. This included images of cannabis and bundles of cash, as well as the identities of other conspirators.

Search warrants were then issued at five addresses across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire on November 30, 2023. At one of those properties, in Honeywood Drive, Nottingham, eight large vacuum-packed bags of cannabis were found underneath a bed.