Hemel Hempstead man jailed as part of £8m cocaine and heroin gang using 'ghost warehouses'

At Kingston Crown Court yesterday, Robert Francuz, aged 43, of Heath Park House, Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

He was one of five men put behind bars for their role in a gang that used what specialist police officers have described as ‘ghost warehouses’ to move significant amounts of class A drugs.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that during its investigation more than 300 kilograms of cocaine and more than 60 kilograms of heroin were seized. The London-based police force has valued the overall amount of drugs found at almost £8 million.

Kingston Crown Court heard the group used ‘legitimate’ heavy vehicle routes to move drugs from mainland Europe into the UK. The Metropolitan Police adds that the gang stored items in what it has described as ‘ghost warehouses’.

"Lorries arriving at UK ports would divert from their legitimate delivery routes to covert storage sites, including locations in Slough and later Daventry, where drugs were secretly offloaded before the lorries continued to their intended destinations,” a spokesperson for the police force revealed.

"Drugs that were found hidden at the warehouses would be removed, repackaged and distributed onward. Men flew in from Poland specifically to assist with unloading and onward supply, often using hire cars to make short trips from the sites to distribute wholesale quantities to drug dealers.”

It was also confirmed by Metropolitan Police that one of its specialist units was first informed of the operation in July 2024. A handover of boxes surveilled in Slough drew suspicion, the court heard.

This led to the seizure of five kilograms of cocaine and 25 kilograms of heroin. Information shared between specialist crime units in London and the west Midlands revealed that the seizures were linked to a wider criminal operation.

It was later established by officers that the criminals were completing frequent trips between Europe and the UK. The Metropolitan Police says gang members would organise the distribution of class A drugs from budget hotels on the continent.

Detective Constable Leon Ure, from Specialist Crime South, who led the investigation, said: “This case has centred on a criminal venture planned on a gigantic commercial scale which would have likely caused violence and destruction on our streets.

“These offenders organised a significant drug line into London and the surrounding counties over a prolonged period of time.

“If people wonder why we are so relentless in going after those involved in drug supply, it’s because this criminality fuels violence and rips families and communities apart.

“We are very grateful to our partners for their assistance. Our coordinated response has resulted in the disruption of a major threat to public safety and has taken this group of criminals off our streets.”

London-based police officers used a warrant to search a warehouse in Slough on August 6, 2024. They obtained the warrant after reporting suspicious activity from a heavy goods vehicle which entered the town via mainland Europe.

The Metropolitan Police revealed that the raid led to the seizure of approximately 103 kilograms of cocaine and 37 kilograms of heroin. The force was able to prove that the site was regularly used for drug distribution.

Detectives used CCTV and phone data to prove 10 similar importations had taken place between May and August of that year.

"The operation revealed a highly structured system involving drugs being offloaded from lorries, unpacked, then redistributed using coded communications, with passwords and pre-arranged collection points,” the spokesperson added.

It has also been revealed that a related seizure of 20 kilograms of cocaine was made in Leicester.

Organised crime units discovered a second ‘ghost warehouse’ in Daventry in March of the following year, the Metropolitan Police revealed. Francuz was said to have played a key role in securing the warehouse. Police officers also found a lorry travelling from the Netherlands making an unexplained stop at the site instead of continuing to its legitimate delivery address in Birmingham, on April 7, 2025.

The Metropolitan Police says that the driver, Dawid Gasiewski, unloaded cargo into the warehouse before Jagjit Singh arrived. Officers arrived soon after and seized approximately 200 kilograms of cocaine and a further 100 kilograms inside the warehouse, the force confirmed.

Jamie Allen was arrested shortly after arriving at the warehouse, while Andrzej Walas and Francuz were arrested the following day. Evidence later showed they had taken steps to hide their involvement, including using false identities, the Metropolitan Police revealed.

Data released by the police forces shows that over the course of the international police operation, approximately 328 kilograms of cocaine and 62 kilograms of heroin were confiscated by officers.

The Metropolitan Police claims that the gang was likely responsible for importing over a tonne of class A drugs.

The court heard that Walas and Francuz were convicted of multiple offences relating to the importation of Class A drugs. Allen was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and failing to disclose protected information.

Gasiewski and Jagjit Singh had previously pleaded guilty, with Gasiewski entering pleas on 30 October 2025 and Singh pleading guilty on the first day of trial.

The Metropolitan Police announced that several other individuals linked to the gang have already been convicted in relation to the operation.

The other sentences were handed out at yesterday’s court hearing:

-Andrzej Walas, aged 48, of Hubert Road, Slough was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment.

-Jamie Allen, aged 29, of Easterton Croft, Birmingham was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.

-Dawid Gasiewski, 32, of no fixed address but from Kingston, was sentenced to 14 years and four months imprisonment.

-Jagjit Singh, aged 30, of Tew Park Road, Birmingham was sentenced to 10 years and six months imprisonment.