Cheshunt Drug baron and three of his cronies caught with chemicals and cash in a plot to supply cocaine have been jailed for more than 23 years

Cheshunt Drug baron and three of his cronies caught with chemicals and cash in a plot to supply cocaine have been jailed for more than 23 years altogether.Daniel Davis, 25, of Nutwood Gardens, Cheshunt, was convicted of conspiracy to supply a Class A drug, money laundering and acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.He was jailed for 11 years.Officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) swooped on various East London locations last year, seizing £54,200 in forged £20 notes, tens of thousands in cash and Euros and 13.8kg of boric acid, used to dilute pure cocaine.Mastermind Davis, a failed entrepreneur, turned to supplying cocaine as his next 'get rich quick' plan after his courier business went bust. Also convicted after a six-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court were Kevin Downes, 49, Paul Leaper, 29, and Thomas Smith, 23.SOCA officers captured Davis and Leaper in West Lane, Bermondsey on June 30 last year with 13.8kg of boric acid and a quantity of bank notes. Three months later, Davis and Downes were discovered inside a Nissan Almera parked in Royal Docks, East London.Inside the hatchback's boot, officers found £40,000 in cash.The gang's stash of counterfeit £20 notes and tens of thousands in Euros were discovered at an address in South Woodford, the trial heard.The gang was arrested before they bought any drugs.Jailing Davis for 11 years, Judge Georges Khayat QC said: "You always thought big. You clearly thought that almost overnight you were going to make a lot of money."Instead of settling down with a family you then decided you would involve yourself in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs."Downes was jailed for five years, Smith was sentenced to six and Leaper was given 18-months.Downes, of Llewellyn Street, Bermondsey, was found guilty of acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property and money laundering.He had already admitted a separate count of acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.Leaper, of The Street, Stourmouth, Kent, denied acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property and money laundering.
Smith, of Chesterfield Gardens, Greenwich, denied conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A to another and acquiring, using or having possession of criminal property.