British rapper Nines has been jailed for importing 28kg of cannabis into the UK from Spain and Poland.<\/p>\n
The chart-topping musician, real name Courtney Freckleton, 31, and Jason Thompson, 35, were both given 28-month sentences.<\/p>\n
The pair had previously\u00a0pleaded guilty to drugs and money laundering charges.<\/p>\n
Sentencing them both at Harrow Crown Court, Judge Rosa Dean said: “What a waste of all of that talent, to be sat in Wormwood Scrubs.”<\/p>\n
Last year, Nines topped the UK album chart with his record Crabs In A Bucket and was named best hip hop act the Mobo Awards.<\/p>\n
The court heard the pair had been involved in one successful bid to import the class B drug, while another attempt had also been made.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Genevieve Reed said the money laundering charge related to a \u00a398 000 debt, the value of the drugs, and the use of Bitcoin to buy the cannabis.<\/p>\n
Some of the cannabis was imported inside boilers brought into the UK from Poland, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Nines, of Barbican, central London, and Thompson, of Barnet, north London, were arrested in June after police raids across London and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire.<\/p>\n
The operation is understood to have stemmed from the infiltration of encrypted messaging service Encrochat.<\/p>\n
The network, which was used by thousands of criminals worldwide, was infiltrated by authorities last year after being hacked by French investigators.<\/p>\n
Father-of-two Nines, who was known as “Big Boss” by his fellow conspirators, had previously been imprisoned for 18 months for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. (BBC)<\/p>\n
British rapper Nines (GP)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" British rapper Nines has been jailed for importing 28kg of cannabis into the UK from Spain and Poland. The chart-topping musician, real name Courtney Freckleton, 31, and Jason Thompson, 35, were both given 28-month sentences. The pair had previously\u00a0pleaded guilty to drugs and money laundering charges. Sentencing them both at Harrow Crown Court, Judge Rosa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":259692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[508],"tags":[15,17113,17114,4475,9441,18,673],"yoast_head":"\n