Four men have been sentenced to a combined 71.5 years in prison after a Metropolitan Police investigation, the Fish Conspiracy, uncovered a plot to smuggle around 600kg of cocaine into the UK hidden inside frozen fish imports. The drugs, sourced from Ecuador, had a UK street value of more than £20 million.

What Happened in the Fish Conspiracy

The Metropolitan Police’s investigation began in 2020, built on intelligence from the encrypted EncroChat network, which was infiltrated by the National Crime Agency and shared with forces across the country. Officers found that the group had used a legitimate fish trading business at Billingsgate Market as cover to receive shipments in which cocaine and ketamine had been concealed.

Encrypted messages recovered from the network detailed payment arrangements, shipping paperwork and the group’s South American supply chain. Two of the men were arrested in the UK on 31 August 2023, while the other two were arrested in Spain under European extradition warrants the same month. All four were sentenced on 25 September 2026 following conviction for conspiracy to import Class A drugs, with additional charges covering the transfer of criminal property and Class B drug offences.

Detective Chief Inspector Dean Grafton said the investigation had “exposed an organised crime group operating on an industrial scale,” with links “stretching from South America and mainland Europe to the streets of the UK.” Full details of the Met’s own announcement are available in the original Metropolitan Police release.

Why the Fish Conspiracy Sentences Are So Long

Conspiracy to import Class A drugs is dealt with under the same sentencing framework as substantive importation offences. The Sentencing Council’s drug offences guideline sets out categories based on quantity, and at 600kg this case sits far above the guideline’s highest band, before any uplift for the connected money laundering and Class B charges.

A defendant’s role in an operation like this is one of the most heavily weighted factors a court considers. The guideline separates:

• Leading role: directing or organising the operation, financing it, or holding a substantial link to the original source, which typically draws the longest terms.
• Significant role: operational or management functions within a chain, awareness of the scale of the operation, and a degree of trust or responsibility.
• Lesser role: performing a limited function under direction, with little awareness of the scale of the operation, though this rarely applies at the quantities involved here.

The four sentences in this case, ranging from 13 to 22 years, reflect the court’s assessment of each man’s role, from arranging the fish business used as cover through to directing the supply chain from overseas.

The EncroChat Evidence Angle

Cases like this one continue to rely heavily on evidence drawn from the EncroChat network, which UK and European agencies infiltrated in 2020. That evidence has been the subject of extensive legal argument in the years since, over how it was obtained and how it can be used in a UK court. We have written before about a successful EncroChat acquittal we secured by challenging the reliability of that kind of digital evidence, and it remains one of the most technically complex areas of criminal defence work involving encrypted communications.

Anyone facing an investigation or charges connected to EncroChat material, or any case involving a complex, multi-handed conspiracy, needs specialist advice at the earliest possible stage. These cases turn on how evidence was gathered, how it is disclosed, and how the prosecution frames each defendant’s individual role.

General Information, Not Legal Advice

This article reports on a Metropolitan Police case and explains the general legal framework around it. It is not legal advice and should not be relied on in place of advice specific to your own circumstances. If you are under investigation or facing charges of any kind, speak to a criminal defence solicitor as early as possible.

If you need advice on an ongoing investigation or criminal charge, contact Newgate Solicitors for a confidential conversation with our criminal defence team.