Florist jailed for 18 years after smuggling £23.5m of cocaine into UK hidden in boxes of flowers

• Gary Pattison attempted to smuggle in 84kg of cocaine in lorry
• He hid haul in amongst boxes of crysanthemums, but was caught when officers spotted three boxes which looked different to rest

Jailed: Gary Pattison tried to smuggle the 97% cocaine in amongst 89 boxes of flowers

A florist owner who tried to smuggle cocaine worth £23.5 million into the country in boxes of flowers has been jailed for 18 years.
Gary Pattison, 52, hid the drugs in a lorry load of chrysanthemums and was today found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of importing cocaine.
He owned Sharon Pattison's Florists and a haulage company called Sharon Pattison Logistics, and tried to smuggle 84kg of the drug, which was 97% pure, into the country from the Netherlands.
Pattison, from Hull, travelled to Rotterdam in his own lorry in February to collect the consignment, and was caught by border officers on his return two days later.
The lorry contained 89 boxes of flowers, but three looked different, and when X-rayed officers found they contained kilo blocks of cocaine.
Pattison's trial had heard that detectives discovered almost £50,000 of cash at Mr Pattison's home in Woodmansey, Hull, and at some of his businesses following his arrest.
However, his fiancee, Lindsey Manson, told the court some of the money belonged to her.
The court heard the couple also had thousands of pounds of foreign currency in their safe, including nine 500 euro notes, which are no longer accepted in the UK due to their links to criminals.
Ms Manson said she had obtained the large euro notes at a travel agents in 2008 for Mr Pattison to use for purchasing flowers abroad and had not got around to cashing them in.

Caught: Officers investigated Pattison's haul after spotting three boxes which looked different to the rest

Haul: Pattison's stash was worth £23.5m, and weighed 84kg

Mr Pattison was stopped in his lorry on February 10 as he returned to Hull from the flower market in Aalsmeer, Holland.

 

The florist previously told Sheffield Crown Court he had loaded 17 trolleys containing hundreds of flowers into his truck, but didn't check the order because he had taken the company on 'trust' that it was correct.
The court heard the three boxes containing the drugs were up to six times heavier than the other boxes of flowers and Mr Pattison's fingerprints were on two of the boxes.

The florist attempted to smuggle the drugs into the country in the back of this lorry from Holland

Gerry Smyth from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said: 'Pattison acted as a shipping agent for organised crime groups by arranging for a large quantity of high purity cocaine to be smuggled into the country.
'Anyone who assists criminals in this way is a target for Soca. If you come on to our radar we will pursue you relentlessly, track you down, and put you behind bars.
Not only has Pattison lost his freedom, he now faces being stripped of his illicit profits.'