Europe News Desk!!! Indian-origin Darshan Patel, 38, has been jailed for 14 months in the UK for attempting to defraud to avoid a ban on importing cannabis, police said. In October 2020, Wiltshire Police were contacted by the UK Border Agency, who seized several packets of a green herbal substance that tested positive for tetra hydro cannabinol (THC)—the major psychoactive component in cannabis—which contained Patel and his company were accused. Products listed on the company’s website for sale included hash and leaf tea, advertised as hemp or CBD—with false claims that these were legal to sell due to their less than 0.2 percent THC content. Wiltshire Police said that following a warrant in January 2021, Patel’s home was raided, seizing a number of items including several phones, herbal cannabis, cannabis resin, digital scales, cash.
Patel, a resident of Covingham, Swindon, was arrested and forensic tests indicated all was cannabis. Police Constable Chris Hemmons said Patel was caught trying to take advantage of current legislation, essentially using the law that regulates the cultivation of cannabis and applying it to the sale of cannabis products. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, it is illegal to sell leaves and flowers from the cannabis plant even if the THC level is less than 0.2 percent, Hemmens said. Patel was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on one count of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and three counts of fraudulently avoiding a ban on the importation of the Xal B drug herbal cannabis. Wiltshire Police said that the proceeds of crime were being instigated in relation to Patel’s profits from the illegal sale of cannabis.
–IANS
KC/ANM
World News Desk!!!