Furnace End is a hamlet in the Warwickshire countryside, the sort of place where a remote farm draws no second glance. Prosecutors now say one of them hid a methamphetamine lab.
Four more men have been charged with conspiracy to produce the drug, a month after five Mexican nationals appeared in court on the same allegation. Kenneth Burton, Paul Harkness Mawby and Anthony Devine, all 34, and Mohammed Khan, 36, were arrested by National Crime Agency officers on Thursday after searches in Birmingham and the North-East. Burton, Mawby and Devine are from County Durham and Stockton-on-Tees. Khan is from Birmingham.
The NCA alleges the men were part of a crime group that ran the lab between February and August this year. Methamphetamine is a Class A drug, highly addictive and linked to severe psychosis, heart attacks and strokes.
The first five
The Mexican defendants were arrested in August, when NCA officers raided the farm where they were staying, working with Warwickshire Police and other emergency services. They are Alejandro Ambriz Dimas, 45, from Michoacan; Victor Ramirez, 47; Fausto Beltran, 33; Lioncio Moso Borja, 37; and Jose Nunez Angolo, 44. Apart from Dimas, all come from the Sinaloa region of northwest Mexico.
They appeared at Warwickshire Crown Court in September before Judge Rhona Campbell, with interpreters beside them in the dock. Defence barristers said all five denied any knowledge of drug production. They were in Britain to work, the court heard, one as a chef and another in construction. The men were remanded in custody.
A police photograph from the site shows a basement holding at least three gas canisters, large plastic tubs and several containers linked by metal tubing.
Next steps
The newly charged men are due in court on Saturday. Burton, Mawby and Devine will appear at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, and Khan at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. The five Mexican nationals go to trial at Warwickshire Crown Court on 15 February 2027, expected to last a month.
Sources
- Four men to appear in court accused of running a rural meth lab
- Four more charged over Warwickshire meth lab discovery
- Four more charged over Warwickshire meth lab discovery
Photo: Department of the Interior. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. National Conservatio (Public domain)
