Chigwell man jailed for nine years over £5m cocaine bust

A Chigwell drug dealer was jailed for nine years yesterday for his part in a conspiracy to supply cocaine worth more than £5million.

Anthony Matthews, 33, of Manor Road, pleaded guilty last month, and is the fifth man to have been sentenced following a police investigation into the conspiracy.

In July 2012, police witnessed Matthews handing over a suitcase to another of the convicted men, Darren Angol, 34, of Millfields Road, Hackney, in Wick Lane near the Olympic Park. Later Angol was stopped by officers and found in possession of cocaine with a street value of more than £450,000.

Other incidents witnessed by police in the ensuing weeks also aroused suspicion, and in August 2012, officers executed a search warrant at Matthews’ business address in Hertfordshire. In St James Lane, Goffs Oak, police discovered 27kgs of high-grade cocaine worth as much as £5m behind what police described as a “hidden wall”.

Police also later found a substantial stash, valued at £140,000, at Matthews’ home address in Chigwell.

Matthews was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

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