A man described as a senior figure in the UK arm of an international drug trafficking gang has been jailed for 20 years after police seized heroin and cocaine worth an estimated £64m at a remote Welsh farm.
Christopher Kenny, 34, of Marsh Grove in Roby, Merseyside, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after being linked to the trafficking of nearly 2,000kg of Class A drugs.
Kenny, a father of two, used the aliases "Myers" and "Joey Barton" during his dealings and was in regular contact with an associate known only as "Duracell", believed to be operating from South America.
Two separate smuggling operations
The court heard Kenny was involved in two operations that brought shipments of Class A drugs into the UK from Holland. One conspiracy saw Guy Remington, from Herefordshire, carry out nine importations between May and September 2023, with drugs delivered to a farm in Deeside, Flintshire.
Prosecutor Martine Snowdon said that on September 23 that year, 505kg of cocaine and 108kg of heroin were seized, valued at between £15m and £21m at wholesale price. The overall operation was alleged to have involved shipments totalling an estimated 2,378kg to 3,570kg.
Kenny's involvement was evidenced from the fifth and sixth smuggling runs, having contacted Remington in July 2023 and introduced himself as "Ying's pal". At least 1,555kg was brought into the country by the organised crime group from that point onwards.
Courier and further shipments
Hungarian national Kristian Popovic later became a courier, receiving £300 per kilogram of drugs he transported into the UK. He made several deliveries to Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree, including 45kg supplied to father and son Raymond and Nathan Kinnear – valued at £1.5m alone – between March and May 2024, though Kenny was not evidentially connected to this stage.
Between December 2024 and May 2025, Popovic ferried further cocaine from the Netherlands to industrial premises in Lower Bank View in Bootle. He was arrested with 80kg concealed beneath the floor of his Mercedes Sprinter van and was calculated to have imported approximately 311kg of Class A drugs during that six-month period.
Kenny was found to have been implicated in the trafficking of a combined total of 1,866kg of heroin and cocaine – "almost two tonnes of Class A drugs" – on a "conservative estimate". He served as the "first point of contact in the UK", relaying information and issuing instructions to others. Evidence also emerged that he ran his own "sideline" selling kilogram quantities of drugs, with messages revealing that a 20kg portion of an imported consignment had been set aside for him.
Sentencing remarks
Kenny, represented by Richard Pratt KC, has no prior convictions. The court was told he had volunteered with the Samaritans while held at Walton prison and supported the education of fellow inmates.
Appearing via videolink from HMP Liverpool dressed in a blue North Face tracksuit top, he was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment and given a serious crime prevention order that will remain in force for five years after his release.
Passing sentence, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "In my view, it is fanciful to suggest that you would simply appear from nowhere between the fifth and sixth trips to play an important part in a highly organised conspiracy to import Class A drugs. I have no doubt that you willingly involved yourself in the conspiracy and were trusted by others to play an important role in it."
He added: "Having considered all of the evidence in this case I reject any suggestion that you and your co-conspirators were part of a strict hierarchy in which Duracell and others abroad operated at a senior level to those in the UK. They were passing on information which you needed to fulfil your role, which included the distribution of drugs in the UK, a role which included directing the activities of others. In my view, your roles were of equal importance and indicate a collaborative approach."
Judge Flewitt said Kenny was involved in the "safe receipt, distribution and onward supply of the imported drugs", acting in expectation of substantial financial advantage. He noted Kenny's letter expressing remorse and the constructive use of his time in custody, saying: "I hope you are sincere in your intention to lead a law-abiding life on your release from prison."
Raymond Kinnear was previously handed a 17-year sentence for two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and one count of conspiracy to supply ketamine in May last year, while his son Nathan received seven years and four months for a single charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Remington was imprisoned for seven years in 2024, while Popovic was handed 19 years in March after being convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine.
