Members of a Liverpool organised crime group have been jailed for trying to smuggle drugs to Australia and New Zealand, following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Lee Brittles, 47, and conspirator Teo Grbesic, 23, tried to ship a huge consignment of ‘pink cocaine’ which contains MDMA, ketamine and caffeine, to Castle Hill, New South Wales masked as an industrial bench cutting saw.

The drugs had a street value of around £11.3m in the UK but $57m in Australia.

On 10 October 2024, Brittles and Grbesic dropped off the drugs, which weighed 252.8kg and were stamped with Pink Panther logos, to a Fed Ex driver in Liverpool. But he was suspicious of the load so reported it to Border Force officers who alerted the NCA.

Brittles, of Dinesen Road, Garston, Liverpool, and his accomplices tried another eight times to export drugs to Australia and New Zealand.

On 12 Feb 2025, Ashley Armstrong, 32, of Chestnut Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, dropped off a cardboard box destined for New Zealand at a DHL collection point in Lancaster.

The package was labelled as vehicle parts but contained 8kg of MDMA. It was scanned at Manchester Airport by Border Force officers and referred to the NCA which was already investigating the OCG.

A few weeks later on 4 March, Brittles and accomplice Karl Dalton, 45, of Briardale Rd, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, dropped off a parcel at a Fed Ex depot in Warrington. It was addressed to a premises in New Zealand and described as ‘vehicle parts’ but contained 2.9kg of methamphetamine. Brittles was under surveillance and NCA officers seized the parcel.

The next day Brittles and Armstrong visited a Fed Ex depot in Speke, Liverpool, and dropped off 11.6kg of MDMA for shipping to New Zealand and again labelled as ‘vehicle parts’.

Just 48 hours later on 7 March 2025 the OCG tried to send 6kg of ketamine to Australia. The drugs, which were labelled as a whiskey decanter, were dropped off at a parcel depot by an unidentified man.

The group were behind another four attempts to smuggle ketamine, cocaine and MDMA to New Zealand and Australia by exploiting the fast parcel delivery system, each time NCA officers recovering the drugs.

Teo Grbesic, of Siroki Brijeg, Bosnia, fled to Germany following his offending. He was arrested in Duisberg, near the German Dutch border, and was extradited to the UK in July.

The offenders all admitted trying to smuggle Class A and B drugs. Today (2 October) at Liverpool Crown Court, Brittles, who has more than 20 criminal convictions, was sentenced to 17 years and eight months.

Grbesic was sentenced to 13 years and four months, Dalton to 12 years, and Armstrong to 10 years and four months.

The NCA worked with partners at the Australian Federal Police which investigated an offender in relation to planned receipt of the ‘pink cocaine’. The man has admitted his involvement and will be sentenced in December.

Colin Shackleton, NCA senior investigating officer, said:

“Protecting the public from the threat of Class A drugs is a top priority for the National Crime Agency.

“Working with partners such as Border Force and colleagues in Australia and New Zealand, we have prevented these toxic substances from entering our communities.”

2 Oct 2026