Three men have been jailed for smuggling 91 million canisters of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, into the UK by operating fake catering companies.
Carl Messen, 58, and twin brothers Thomas and Benjamin Richardson, both 38, were convicted at Leeds Crown Court for importing the psychoactive substance by the lorry-load between May 2016 and December 2018. They also laundered over £16.7 million through their scheme, with more than £12 million in cash believed to be illicitly earned.
Nitrous oxide has legitimate uses in medicine and dentistry as an anesthetic, and in the catering industry as a whipped cream propellant. However, since 2016, it has been illegal to supply or import nitrous oxide for recreational use, and it was classified as a Class C drug in 2023.
Benjamin Richardson was sentenced to six years and two months in prison, Thomas Richardson received five years and eight months, and Messen was sentenced to three years and two months.
The court heard that the amount of nitrous oxide smuggled by the trio far exceeded the combined 3.8 million canisters used by UK coffee chains Costa and Starbucks during the same period.
Excessive recreational use of nitrous oxide poses serious health risks, including neurological damage and death due to oxygen deprivation.
Ramona Senior, head of operations at the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “This was an organised operation focused on illegally importing a psychoactive substance into the UK. Despite the legal restrictions, the group knowingly traded nitrous oxide for recreational use, generating vast profits while disguising their activities and laundering their proceed.”
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