By Annabal Bagdi,Martin Naylor

Copyright birminghammail

A cocaine kingpin fled to Dubai and was on the run for almost five years before he was finally located. John Juniper ordered couriers to bring multi-kilo drops of high-purity cocaine to organised crime gangs based in the Midlands. When police went to his home to arrest him, they realised the 50-year-old had left the country. It wasn’t until earlier this year that he was extradited from Dubai and arrested when he arrived at Heathrow. Juniper was the final member of the Nottingham drugs conspiracy to be sentenced. READ MORE: Convicted sex offenders in these UK areas to be chemically castrated He was jailed for 11 years and four months, NottinghamshireLive reports. Other gang members were jailed in March 2023 for a total of more than 160 years for their criminal activity. Nottingham Crown Court heard the illegal operation involved two organised crime groups, dubbed the ‘Kinsella gang’ and the ‘Eastwood gang’. It involved the supply of large quantities of high-purity cocaine into the Nottingham area just before the Covid lockdown in early 2020, prosecutor Nadia Silver said. She said: “Juniper was dealing cocaine in commercial quantities and it is clear the relationship between him and the Kinsella gang involved the supply of multi-kilos of cocaine. “Juniper organised couriers to deliver to the Kinsella group. On January 15, 2020, one of them delivered what must have been 1kg. “The following day there was another delivery and the following day after that and in each case it was another 1kg. “There was another delivery on January 28, again on February 23, and on February 26 one of the couriers was stopped while on the way to Liverpool and £500,000 of cash was seized from him as well as an encrypted device. “On March 14, a courier working for Juniper was delivering to the Kinsella group and 3kg of cocaine was seized which had a purity of 77 per cent along with £16,610 in cash. “In November 2020, the police attended Juniper’s home address to arrest him and found he had absconded from the country. “He was not detained until April of this year at Frankfurt airport in Germany having previously been in Dubai and was extradited and arrested at London Heathrow on arrival in May of this year.” Juniper, of Eagle Way, Warley, Brentwood, Essex, admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Roderick James, defending, said dad-of-three Juniper was divorced. He said: “He has been out of the jurisdiction for some time but it was not a case of him becoming aware of the other arrests and deliberately absenting himself. “He was already out of the jurisdiction, but he entirely accepts there was a time he became aware of it. “He became scared of the consequences and did not return.” Sentencing, Judge Steven Coupland told Juniper: “I accept there were other people above you who were importing large quantities of drugs but you were also involved at a high level organising couriers to deliver substantial amounts of cocaine into the area. “Your operation used EncroChat to communicate between you and because of that it was a large-scale operation involving serious criminals. “Ultimately, you poured large-scale misery into the East Midlands, and people need to know if they involve themselves in this sort of crime, the punishment far outweighs the benefits. “The delay in the case is no mitigation because you deliberately absented yourself to avoid the consequences.” The Kinsella group was led by Michael Kinsella and Jeffery Bradwell. Brothers Daniel, Lee and Dominic Wright, along with accomplice Adam Rhodes, led the Eastwood group. In March 2023, the following gang members received the following sentences: Det Insp Mark Adas previously said: “These two organised crime groups worked together to become a major distribution arm of a drug dealing enterprise with reach across the country, sending tens of thousands of pounds-worth of harmful substances into communities across Nottinghamshire and beyond. “They were dealing in substantial quantities of potent class A drugs and large sums of cash at any one time – a scale of criminality that often brings with it violence and misery for the communities in which they operate.” A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, which could see Juniper stripped of cash and assets, will take place next year. Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here .