Prisoner soaked fake legal letters in spice in Wiltshire drugs factory

Dennis Obasi and his then girlfriend, Emily MacArthur, smuggled the Class B drugs into prisons by using fake stamps to produce bogus legal letters coated with spice, a synthetic cannabinoid.

They also concealed drugs within packages for prisoners and used visits to smuggle them inside.

The pair were arrested in February 2020 at MacArthur’s flat in Trowbridge where £50,000 of spice powder was discovered.

Spice recovered from MacArthur's flat in Trowbridge (Image: SWROCU)

Obasi was sentenced to more than eleven years in prison on Friday (November 11) after admitting three drugs charges and possession of criminal property.

MacArthur meanwhile remains on the run, after skipping bail following her guilty pleas to charges of importation of Class A drugs. Police have today renewed their appeal for the public’s help in locating her.

Swindon Crown Court heard on Friday how Obasi, 27, was an inmate at Peterborough prison when the conspiracy started.

Obasi (Image: SWROCU)

The investigation begun when Border Force officers stopped three cocaine-filled parcels from Jamaica addressed to MacArthur at addresses in Frome and Bristol.

Officers from the South West Organised Crime Unit – a conglomerate of police forces across the region – and the Metropolitan Police raided the 31-year-old’s Trowbridge flat in February 2020, arresting her and Obasi.

They found it had been turned into a drugs factory and recovered £50,000 of spice powder, 116 sheets of paper soaked in spice – worth £48,000 or more in prisons – a box containing six bottles of acetone and 1.86kg of marshmallow leaves.

Spice is consumed by spraying it onto a leaf that can be burned and smoked.

Detectives also recovered seven fake stamps, piles of envelopes and further letters.

Fake stamps used for the legal letters (Image: SWROCU)

They interrogated Obasi’s phone, and found nearly 23,000 messages to his girlfriend, many focusing on how to smuggle drugs into prisons.

Obasi would supply MacArthur with names and prisoner numbers for inmates at prisons in Peterborough and Bristol who wanted spice-infused letters.

Less than a month after he was released, Obasi was then involved in county lines drug dealing, recruiting vulnerable people and teenagers to run drugs for him.

He cuckooed flats in Bath Road, Bristol and in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, with more than £5,000 of crack cocaine and £6,000 in cash seized.

In Abingdon, officers discovered two teenagers, aged 14 and 17, working as drugs runners.

Obasi was jailed for eleven years and seven months by Judge Jason Taylor KC on Friday, having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a controlled drug into prisons, being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, and possession of criminal property.

Meanwhile, MacArthur, formerly of Charlotte Square in Trowbridge, remains at large, having previously admitted conspiracy to supply spice into prisons and importation of a Class A drug.

Police are still looking for Emily MacArthur (Image: SWROCU)

PC Alex Furniss from the Metropolitan Police Service said: “The messages, seen as part of the investigation, showed that Obasi would supply MacArthur with names and prisoner numbers for those who wanted to receive or were prepared to accept spice-infused letters. 

“The messages also showed lengthy exchanges about the methods being used by MacArthur to make spice, plus their desire to make large profits from their enterprises, including working more closely together once Obasi was released from prison.”

DCI Charlotte Tucker from SWROCU said: “Today’s sentence reflects a huge amount of work by our teams and the Met, supported by our partners, to bring Obasi to justice.

“His offending shows his willingness to exploit anyone, in any way, in pursuit of his own profits, regardless of the exploitation and harm that has caused. The guilty pleas are testament to the strength of evidence we collectively gathered against him.

“Emily MacArthur has also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Obasi to supply spice into prisons as well as importing cocaine. The messages between them show their shared drive to make money. She, too, needs to be brought before the court and I hope that people will come forward with information to help us do just that.”