HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Assistant Chief Investigation Officer at Heathrow Stuart Sadler said:

"Revenue & Customs officers have prevented a large amount of heroin from hitting the streets in the UK. The successful interception, investigation and prosecution of this case has culminated in lengthy custodial sentences being imposed and sends a clear message to those wanting to profit from smuggling Class A drugs."

The court heard that on 19 November 2004, Customs officers found 64kgs of heroin and 346kgs of cannabis resin in a large crate, which had arrived as freight from Johannesburg. Documents accompanying the consignment described the goods as a solenoid. The consignment was kept under surveillance when it was collected and delivered to a yard in Forest Gate, London, where three men were arrested as they started to break open the crate. The heroin has an estimated street value of £5.8 million and the cannabis resin £1 million.

After a lengthy trial at Guildford Crown Court, one man was acquitted and the two men convicted were:

* Ajibola Tajudeen Shitta-Bey, aged 42, of Trafalgar Avenue, Peckham, London was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment;
* Taiye Ogunsola, aged 41, of Crescent Road, Dagenham, Essex, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

This case was successfully prosecuted by the newly established Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). RCPO is an independent prosecuting authority, which reports to the Attorney General, and is responsible for the prosecution of all HMRC cases in England & Wales.