A pensioner who was caught smuggling £120million worth of cocaine inside rolls of artificial grass has been jailed for 17 years.
Peter Lamb, 66, was found to have to have smuggled one-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated £120million on the street, over the course of a year.
He was caught in May 2024 after taking a receipt of a lorry-load of fake grass, inside which were several custom-built rolls of fake grass that were meant to be filled with the Class A drug.
The delivery was one of 20 he had taken into his hands over the span of 11 months. But unbeknown to Lamb, the last load he took had been ransacked by Dutch authorities, who removed the drugs several days prior.
Cops in the Netherlands told the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the scheme, and upon Lamb receiving the delivery in Stockton-on-Tees, NCA officers found he used a forklist to move to rolls of fake grass to a warehouse.
As he returned to the warehouse the following day, he was arrested by awaiting NCA officers.
Following a search of the warehouse, as well as one in Newcastle, officers found a kilogram of cocaine alongside rolls of fake grass.
And upon an investigation of Lamb’s phone and paperwork, he was found to have made several trips to the Netherlands and set up two grass supply companies.
A pensioner who was caught smuggling £120million worth of cocaine inside rolls of artificial grass has been jailed for 17 years
Peter Lamb, 66, was found to have to have smuggled one-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated £120million on the street, over the course of a year
After pleading guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs at Newcastle Crown Court on March 26 2025, he was sentenced at the same court on June 27
Following a search of the warehouse, as well as one in Newcastle, officers found a kilogram of cocaine alongside rolls of fake grass
But these firms were found to have sold no products, and it is believed the trips to Europe were done to meet co-conspirators.
NCA senior investigating officer Al Mullen said: ‘Artificial grass is one of the more unusual concealments I’ve seen used to smuggle cocaine but no matter what tactics criminals use, the NCA will find both the drugs and the importers.
‘We caught Lamb red-handed and uncovered his year-long conspiracy to flood UK streets with one-and-a-half tonnes of the drug. Cocaine destroys communities and lives, but this joint operation with officers in the Netherlands has disrupted its supply in the UK.’
After pleading guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs at Newcastle Crown Court on March 26 2025, he was sentenced at the same court on June 27.
