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Met officers pieced together their groups’ movements and disrupted their plan to bring dangerous drugs onto the streets of London.

The case comes as the Met continues to fight crime and tackle the issues that matter to communities most, making London safer for those that live, work and raise a family in the capital.

Specialist Met officers have spent the last three years taking down a large drug trafficking organisation through compiling extensive CCTV and dissecting encrypted software used by criminals to arrange drug importation.

Officers uncovered that the organised group made 19 importations between May 2020 and August 2020, with a street value of £8,800,000.

The hard work and dedication of Met officers has resulted in the sentencing of 12 people. Ten of these men have been sentenced at earlier dates, with the final two sentenced on Friday, 19 April at Kingston Crown Court.

Jonathan Lynn, 41 of Heathcote Road, Epsom was sentenced to 15 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.

Nicholas Lynn, 35 of Gildenhill Road, Swanley and Temple Denny Road, Falkirk was sentenced to 18 years and 8 months’ imprisonment.

Detective Inspector Lydia Stephens from the Met’s Specialist Crime South Unit, said: “This investigation is a powerful example of the extraordinary work undertaken by the Met’s highly skilled and dedicated detectives in order to identify, apprehend and prosecute organised criminals.

“We are committed to identifying and dismantling entire networks from the top down to stop the scourge of drug dealing and the associated crimes which impact our communities here in London.

“These vast quantities of cocaine were bound for our communities and I’m pleased we’ve taken them off the streets. Drugs and violence come hand in hand and we will continue to seek out perpetrators who wish to jeopardise the safety of Londoners. ”

Detective Constable Leon Ure, who worked on the case, said: “The success of this case is down to a massive team effort across the Met, involving multiple units and officers coming together to help make sure this pipeline of Class A drugs to London was dismantled.

“Without everyone’s diligence, utmost professionalism and commitment to the job, we wouldn’t have been able to see such significant sentencings. We remain completely committed to keeping Londoners safe and removing dangerous criminals from the streets.

Officers worked relentlessly to gather evidence to prove the Lynn brothers’ involvement. Officers were able to piece together hundreds of hours of CCTV from Thurrock services to prove this was a meeting spot used by the criminal gang to hand large amounts of drugs destined for London

Officers were able to analyse communications on Encrochat, historically used by criminal gangs to communicate in an encrypted system, through usernames used by the Lynn brothers. This showed their involvement in arranging the transport of Class A drugs from Lithuania to be driven into the UK on HGV lorries. The team then made use of a drug expert witness to show the Lynn brothers’ leadership role through further data analysis of communications between accomplices.

Thanks to help from European authorities, Jonathan Lynn was arrested in Fuengirola, Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in November 2022. Nicholas Lynn was arrested previously in Kent in February 2021.

As part of the New Met for London plan, the Met is focusing on community crime-fighting, making sure people feel safe where they live and work.
 
Read more about how we are responding to local priorities with A New Met for London: https://www.met.police.uk/notices/met/a-new-met-for-london/