One of Britain’s biggest ever drug smugglers has been jailed for 19 years for his part in running a massive £20million international operation that almost resulted in a ‘destructive’ haul of substances flooding into the UK.
Eddie Burton, 23, from Liverpool, was handed the hefty sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to four counts of importing Class A and B drugs.
He carried out his activities alongside his glamorous ‘gangster moll’ ex-girlfriend Sian Banks, 25, also from Liverpool, who was jailed for five years in February after pleading guilty to seven charges, including importing Class A drugs and money laundering.
The pair were hunted down by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after they attempted to smuggle a massive haul of drugs into the UK in 2022.
Their audacious plan – carried out while Burton was living in mainland Europe – was foiled when two lorries containing heroin, cocaine and ketamine were intercepted at Dover Port.
The drugs weighed a combined 307 kilos with an estimated street value of £20m.
Border Force officers stopped the first lorry on July 3, 2022 and found 90 kilos of ketamine and 50 kilos of cocaine packed into boxes and a Lidl shopping bag.
The second lorry was intercepted just six weeks later, on August 12, 2022.
Eddie Burton, 23, from Liverpool, has been jailed for 19 years for his part in running a massive £20million international operation that almost resulted in a ‘destructive’ haul of substances flooding into the UK
He carried out his activities alongside his glamorous ‘gangster moll’ ex-girlfriend Sian Banks, 25, also from Liverpool, who was jailed for five years in February
The pair were hunted down by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after they attempted to smuggle a massive haul of drugs into the UK in 2022
Officers discovered 142 kilos of cocaine and 25 kilos of heroin in a fuel tank that had been modified to conceal the drugs.
Its driver, 64-year-old Latvian national Maris Fridvalds, was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in March 2023 for his role as a courier in the attempted importation.
Forensics found Burton’s fingerprints and DNA on both drug consignments, and the adapted fuel tank.
The discovery of both lorries sparked an NCA manhunt for Burton, who was living between the Netherlands and Spain after relocating from the UK in early 2021.
He was finally arrested by Spanish police in August 2023 at Pacha nightclub in Ibiza, for unrelated drug dealing offences. At the time he was using an alias in an attempt to evade detection.
After being extradited to Germany and charged with drug offences, he was returned to the UK in March 2024 by specialist National Extradition Unit officers from the NCA’s Joint International Crime Centre (JICC).
Banks meanwhile had been arrested in December 2023.
NCA investigators found that between June 2022 and October 2023 she travelled to the Netherlands and Spain on a monthly basis to visit Burton.
Eddie Burton (pictured as a 15-year-old in 2016) had been running a £20 million international drug smuggling operation which he founded while still in his teens
After her phone was seized, officers found evidence that on two occasions in August 2022 she smuggled cocaine and ketamine into the UK in her luggage after visiting Burton in Amsterdam.
NCA investigators also uncovered messages sent between her and Burton on July 5, 2022 – two days after the first lorry carrying drugs was intercepted.
The messages indicated that she flew out to the Netherlands in late June and prepared the first shipment of drugs for transportation alongside him.
In one message she told Burton that her fingerprints were on the bags of ketamine – but Burton assured her: ‘You’ve never been nicked or had ye prints took anyway so doesn’t matter’.
She was also found to be operating a scam selling doctored Covid-19 travel documents at the height of the pandemic.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer John Turner said: ‘Burton, with Banks’ help, attempted to smuggle huge quantities of harmful drugs into the UK, believing he could operate with impunity overseas.
‘Banks held a crucial role in the criminal enterprise, laundering the illicit profits and acting as the UK-based facilitator for the multi-million pound drug importations.
‘The drugs, had they reached their final destination, would have had a destructive impact on our communities, fuelling violence and exploiting vulnerable people throughout the supply chain.’
Border Force officers stopped the first lorry on 3 July and found 90 kilos of ketamine and 50 kilos of cocaine packed into boxes and a Lidl shopping bag (above)
One of the two lorries intercepted on 12 August, contained 142 kilos of cocaine and 25 kilos of heroin hidden inside a modified fuel tank (above)
A Daily Mail investigation earlier this year found that Burton was no stranger to the world of drug running, having started out as a street dealer at the age of just ten.
Meanwhile Banks’ fondness for luxury holidays and designer goods saw her getting drawn into crime when scarcely older.
Those who knew Burton as a child – including his own grandmother – told Daily Mail they were unsurprised that he would end up in organised crime.
Family and friends in Liverpool said Burton had been a ‘tearaway’ from a very young age and was engaged in serious crime before he had even left primary school.
One family friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, told MailOnline: ‘He got into all sorts when he was a kid. He started selling a few drugs when he was about ten for older drug dealers.
‘Eddie was a runner for them. He was a real baby-face so it was ideal for them as he just didn’t look old enough to be into drugs.
‘He got into trouble quite a bit when he was a young teenager – in fights and things.
‘He was just a bit cheeky when he was that young but it gradually got more serious.’
Remarkably, Burton’s paternal grandmother, Margaret Burton, corroborated this version of events.
She told us: ”He was a bit of a young tearaway. I think he was selling drugs. So it’s not that surprising what’s happened to him.
‘Apparently some older men got him to sell things when he was young.’
Merseyside Police issued a photo of Burton looking like a fresh-faced choirboy when he was 15, after he had been reported missing.
Soon he would be permanently missing and at 19 he would move to Amsterdam.
By this time, he is thought to have been dating Banks, who was two years his senior.
The pair are thought to have met in their native Liverpool and Banks was soon smitten both with her new boyfriend and the money.
Burton subsequently pleaded guilty to four charges of importing Class A and B drugs
A review of Banks’ phone showed that she had smuggled drugs into the UK in her luggage on two separate occasions in August 2022 after visiting Burton in Amsterdam
A woman who knew her growing up told Daily Mail: ‘She’s a stunning girl and always looked good.
‘She took great care over her appearance and was a good time girl who liked men who had money.’
Pictures on Banks’ social media accounts seem to confirm this glamorous lifestyle.
One post showed her posing on a yacht aboard with friends as well as several of her in bikini tops during nights out.
Another former associate of Banks told us: ‘She liked foreign holidays and she liked a big night out.
‘Sian’s into nightclubs and I know she’s been to a few festivals like Creamfields.
‘I know she’s been away for quite a few holidays abroad.
‘But it was still a big shock when we found out she’s been up to this much no good.’
The couple are thought to have split up after Burton’s arrest.
