A former deputy police and crime commissioner today slammed one of Britain’s biggest forces for portraying her son as the ‘kingpin’ of a £135million drug smuggling operation after he was jailed for 23 years.
Sue Arnold has also moaned that she and her husband ‘have been the victims of some policing sharp practice’ at the hands of West Midlands Police, who she accused of having ‘persecuted’ them.
Her son Jonathan, a talented sportsman who went to the prestigious Repton private school also famously attended by Roald Dahl and Jeremy Clarkson, is languishing in prison today.
West Midlands Police say he was ‘the head of the crime group’ who used a furniture removal business as a front for a drugs empire which saw a ‘colossal’ amount of drugs smuggled in from Colombia and helped fund his lavish life of luxury including trips to Dubai, a Ferrari, an expensive Rolex and even new teeth.
Arnold admitted in court that he was involved in a conspiracy to supply 1,477kg of cocaine, with an eye-watering street value of approximately £118 million. The drugs were hidden inside pallets of bananas on board of a ship from Colombia.
But his mum, once a deputy police and crime commissioner in Staffordshire who vowed to ‘make offenders take personal responsibility for their unacceptable behaviour’, said that her son had fallen in with the wrong crowd and insisted he is no ‘drug lord’ and that his removal company was a ‘legitimate business’.
Sue Arnold, his mother, is a former deputy police and crime commissioner in Staffordshire, says her son Jonathan is not a drugs kingpin despite what the police say after he was jailed for 23 years
Ringleader Jonathan Arnold boasted of his wealth online by posting photos and videos of him wearing a Rolex and driving a Ferrari
Jonathan Arnold, showing off his teeth which he had done in Dubai with his huge fortune. His mum insists the teeth were not a proceed of crime
After claiming she and her family had been ‘the victims of some policing sharp practice’ and accusing officers of ‘tipping off’ the press because of her ‘personal connection with law enforcement’, she added: ‘The ‘drug lord’ inference is more evidence that has left my husband and I dumbfounded by the police’s wrongful portrayal of our son as the ‘kingpin’ of the operation, presumably because it suits their narrative to imply they have snared the lead player. All loose ends are then tied up.’
Mrs Arnold admitted her son had made ‘reckless decisions’ after becoming addicted to the painkiller tramadol. She admitted she and her husband ‘still cannot fully comprehend where it all went wrong’.
Mrs Arnold admitted her son had made ‘reckless decisions’ after becoming addicted to the painkiller tramadol – but denied he is a drugs lord as the police claim
She said: ‘No one is suggesting he has not had a privileged upbringing but again to imply his new teeth are ill-gotten gains is absurd. We’ve even heard a suggestion he should have his teeth pulled out as they are somehow proceeds of crime.’
She said in a statement to Birmingham’s Sunday Mercury newspaper: ‘After dedicating 10 years of my life to supporting as well as holding law enforcement in this country to account, I feel that my husband and I have been the victims of some policing sharp practice. We fervently believe we have been persecuted by the police.
‘We also accept our good standing in the community is in jeopardy with the prospect of reputational damage leading to possible ostracisation in the village community.
‘One pertinent aspect of that involves me recently refusing the opportunity of a lifetime to become a deputy lieutenant for Staffordshire, premeditating the shame it would bring on the Crown if I had accepted.’
Jonathan Arnold was jailed for 23-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday. Members of the gang were jailed for a combined 77 years.
He boasted of his wealth online by posting photos and videos of him wearing a Rolex and driving a Ferrari while on holiday in Dubai.
Arnold gave the impression that he was a legitimate businessman with a small furniture moving firm that had a turnover of £50,000-a-month.
Arnold and his gang smuggled nearly two tonnes of cocaine, heroin and ketamine into the UK.
The 30-year-old used the drug money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
He even spent tens of thousands of pounds on cosmetic surgery and dental work.
The gang used dummy loads of furniture to hide packages of drugs in lorries and vans, some of which had hidden compartments to conceal the shipments.
Arnold, of Sutton Coldfield, admitted four charges of conspiracy to import and supply drugs.
The gang’s supervisor James Jenkins, 25, of Tamworth was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was jailed for 15 years.
One of the gang’s drivers, Connor Fletcher, 25, of Wolverhampton, was found guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine and was jailed for 12 years.
Humayan Sadiq, 43, of Manchester, was also convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and was jailed for 27 years.
The gang’s downfall began in January 2022, when one of their couriers made a drug run to Europe in a Real Estate Removals van.
His van was searched by French Customs’ officers who found 63 blocks of cocaine weighing 71kg along with 99 bags of ketamine weighing 101kg. The drugs had a UK wholesale value of £2,561,900.
By this point, a police investigation had linked him to the gang and so Border Force were asked to intercept him on his return and he was arrested.
The biggest single seizure came in April last year, when the gang tried to bring 1,477kg of cocaine with a street value of around £118million into Portsmouth.
The drugs were found hidden among bananas and were seized by Dutch police officers on a ship which had travelled from Colombia to Vlissingen.
Arnold and his gang smuggled nearly two tonnes of cocaine (pictured), heroin and ketamine into the UK.
Jonathan, top right, was locked up after pleading guilty to three counts of conspiring to import drugs and one count of conspiring to supply class A drugs. Co-conspirators James Jenkins (lower left), 25, Humayan Sadiq (lower right), 43, and Connor Fletcher (top right), 25, were jailed for 15, 27 and 12 years respectively for their role in the operation.
In June last year, Fletcher travelled to a town near Amsterdam for an overnight trip and returned with 60kg of cocaine hidden in two secret compartments built into the floor of the lorry.
Judge Heidi Kubik KC told the gang: ‘You played a sophisticated, commercial drugs trafficking operation in which you conspired to import large quantities of class A drugs into this country for onward distribution and supply.
‘I need not rehearse the untold misery that these drugs would cause to drug addicts and their families.
‘His [Arnold] furniture removal business as a cover to transport drugs into the country from abroad.’
Anthony Davis, defending Arnold, said: ‘He was a very hard-working individual.
‘He ran a business which was successful for a period of time and he would reward himself with holidays.
‘That is when he became involved with others more sophisticated than himself. He was like a lamb to the slaughter.’
Detective chief superintendent Jenny Skyrme, head of the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: ‘We can’t underestimate the scale and significance of this criminal organisation.
‘This is the biggest drugs case that we have ever dealt with as an organisation.
‘The gang was operating at the highest levels of criminality, bringing in industrial quantities of drugs to sell on the streets of the West Midlands and beyond.’
Two other defendants Jack Bishop, 31, and Ryan Hatton, 27, were found not guilty of drugs charges.
