Man cleared of £17m drug plot

A Shropshire plumber was today starting life again as a free man after being cleared by a crown court jury of taking part in a £17 million international drug smuggling plot.

Christopher Hopkins, of Newport, spent nearly six months behind bars after being caught in a police sting operation with cannabis worth nearly £2 million in the back of a van.

His solicitor said the 29-year-old former soldier had been "hoodwinked" by a drugs gang and was overjoyed at his acquittal.

Mr Hopkins was arrested at a Somali social club in north London on November 18 last year.

The jury at Wood Green Crown Court heard police had covertly followed four tonnes of cannabis in 120 boxes which had arrived at Heathrow Airport from South Africa.

Police swooped as Mr Hopkins drove away from the club with 14 boxes in a white Citroen van he had borrowed from a friend.

Mr Hopkins, who had been living at the time in a rented house at The Larches, Newport, was kept in custody until his eight-day crown court trial which finished yesterday.

He and co-defendants Ahmed Kalib, 27, of South Harrow, and Yasin Muse, 39, of Edgware, were cleared by a jury of being involved in the illegal importation of a controlled drug. They denied the charges.

Mr Hopkins, who had joined the army at 16 and served with the REME in Bosnia, celebrated his freedom on the court steps with his family, including his brother and mother, who had supported him throughout.

His solicitor, Gregory Burke, of Rogers & Co, Wolverhampton, said Mr Hopkins had been duped into collecting the boxes for a £1,000 fee and had not known what was in them.

Mr Burke said: "It would appear he was somewhat hoodwinked by those more sophisticated than him."

He said Mr Hopkins, who had never been in trouble before, was looking forward to starting a new career as a plumber and gas fitter after getting his industry Corgi registration.

By Peter Johnson and Kirsty Smallman