A baby-faced drugs baron and his glamourous ‘gangster’s moll’ are facing years behind bars.
Eddie Burton, 23, masterminded one of Britain’s biggest ever smuggling operations which saw £20 million worth of heroin, cocaine and ketamine imported into the UK.
He ran the operation from Amsterdam and was arrested while partying on the profits at Ibiza’s famous Pacha nightclub after an international manhunt.
Sian Banks, 25, admitted assisting his criminal enterprise at Canterbury Crown Court this week. Both will be sentenced there next Tuesday.
Burton is thought to have become embroiled in crime when he was just 10.
One family friend told the Daily Mail: ‘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.’
Even his nan Margaret Burton said: ‘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.’
Wannabe influencer Banks is thought to have been seduced by the easy money and glamourous lifestyle.
Burton was living in mainland Europe at the time two lorries containing heroin, cocaine and ketamine were intercepted at Dover port in the summer of 2022 (Picture: NCA)
A mugshot taken when he was just 15 (Picture: Merseyside Police)
Details of Burton’s plot can now be revealed as his ex-partner Sian Banks, 25, pleaded guilty to assisting his criminal enterprise (Picture: NCA)
A woman who knew her while they were growing up told the Mail she was ‘a good time girl who liked men who had money’.
Another said: ‘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.’
Burton was living in mainland Europe at the time two lorries containing heroin, cocaine and ketamine were intercepted at Dover in the summer of 2022.
The drugs weighed a combined 307 kilos with an estimated street value of £20 million.
Border Force officers stopped the first lorry on July 3 and found 90 kilos of ketamine and 50 kilos of cocaine packed into boxes and a Lidl shopping bag.
The second was stopped six weeks later, on August 12.
Inside, officers discovered 142 kilos of cocaine and 25 kilos of heroin in a fuel tank that had been modified to conceal the drugs.
Burton was arrested by Spanish police in August 2023 at Pacha nightclub, Ibiza, for unrelated drug dealing offences (Picture: NCA)
Burton’s fingerprints and DNA were found on both drug consignments, as well as the adapted fuel tank.
The investigation revealed Banks flew out to the Netherlands and Spain every month to see Burton.
And a review of her phone evidenced that on two occasions in August 2022 she smuggled cocaine and ketamine into the UK in her luggage after visiting him in Amsterdam.
National Crime Agency investigators also uncovered messages sent between her and Burton on July 5, 2022 – two days after the first lorry carrying drugs was intercepted.
In one, she told Burton her fingerprints were on the bags of ketamine and he replied: ‘You’ve never been nicked or had ye prints took anyway so doesn’t matter.’
Burton pleaded guilty to four counts of importing Class A and B drugs.
Banks pleaded guilty to a total of seven charges, including importing Class A drugs and money laundering.
NCA Branch Commander 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.’
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