Laughing gas gang imported 91 million canisters

Three men who helped import 91 million canisters of laughing gas into the UK were jailed by a string of bogus catering companies. Carl Messen, 58, and his twin brothers Thomas and Benjamin Richardson, both 38, released lorry loads of nitrous oxide in the United States between May 2016 and December 2018. The trio also used the fake companies to embebe more than £16, according to Leeds Crown Court. 7m made from the scheme. Messen, Doncaster, and the Richardson brothers from Barlby, North Yorkshire, were sentenced to prison for attempting to import a psychoactive drug following a trial on Thursday.

In dentistry and medicine, nitrous oxide is used as an anaesthetic. It is also used as a propellant in whipped cream dispensers and is also useful in the catering industry. If it was likely to be consumed for its psychoactive use in 2016, it was unlawful to manufacture or import nitrous oxide, and in 2023 it was designated as a class C drug. The gang imported 91,350,000 canisters into the country in two years, according to the court, two years after the ban was imposed.

According to investigators, the three founders founded Worldwide Coffee Traders Ltd, Catering Pantry International Ltd, and Barista Distribution Ltd in an attempt to cover their tracks. The sole trade in Yorkshire and Humber was in nitrous oxide, according to the Yorkshire and Hubert Regional Organised Crime Unit (YHROCU). Investigators discovered more than £16. More than £12 million was paid in cash as a result of the firm's accounts, with 7 million deposited into the firm.

This was an organized company whose sole purpose was to import a psychoactive drug into the UK to be used illicitly,

Ramona Senior, head of operations at YHROCU, said. "Despite being made unlawful, this group continued to trade in nitrous oxide while fully aware that its ultimate use was to be sold as a drug.

They made a lot of money from their operations and arranged their companies in a way that attempted to conceal their existence and to launder their ill-gotten wealth,

she said. Messen, a Skellow resident, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for attempting to import a psychoactive drug, money laundering, and unlawful cash. Benjamin Richardson, of The Laurels, Barlby, was sentenced to six years and two months in prison for the same offences. After being found guilty of conspiracy to import a psychoactive drug and money laundering, Thomas Richardson, of Rosegarth, Barlby, was sentenced to five years and eight months.