TWO Oxfordshire men branded “major players” in the UK drug trade helped smuggle £50m of cannabis into the country.

Pensioner Barry Haydon, 68, of Oxford Road, Burford, and Ivan Marshall, 26, of Queen Street, Eynsham, were part of a gang that brought in an estimated 16 tonnes of the drug.

Yesterday, the pair were convicted of conspiracy to import the Class B drug following a three-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

Dutch brothers Nicolaas and Miquel Sempel were also found guilty of the same charge.

The plot – which used a textile company as cover – was revealed when UK Border Agency staff found 645 kilograms of cannabis, worth £2m, hidden inside a lorry at Harwich docks in Essex.

Bags of the drug were concealed inside boxes of used clothing sent from Holland in March last year.

UK Border Agency investigators learned that the gang had used the business to import about 30 other loads into the UK in 2009 and early last year, by creating false invoices for onward sale of the clothing to try to cover their tracks.

Nicolaas and Miquel Sempel were arrested when they arrived to collect the load from a freight agent at the port, using a van hired by Marshall, with Haydon as a named driver.

Haydon, who is believed to have no previous convictions, was arrested later the same day. Marshall was caught in July last year.

Jim Jarvie, deputy director of the UK Border Agency’s criminal and financial investigation unit, said: “This was clearly a significant smuggling operation, worth many millions of pounds.

“These men were heavily involved in the drugs trade, and the quantities involved show that this gang were major players in smuggling cannabis into the UK.”

Haydon, Marshall and Miquel Sempel, 43, were all in court to hear the verdict.

They were remanded in custody until sentencing.

Nicolaas Sempel, 52, absconded while on bail and was convicted in his absence. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Edmund Weighell said: “This successful prosecution has finally put a stop to the lucrative and illegal drug trade that had been running for the past two years.

“We will now be seeking to confiscate their assets to ensure they do not profit from their criminal behaviour.”

UK Border Agency spokes-man Adam Edwards said: “It is now thought that they were responsible for bringing in an estimated 16 tonnes of cannabis, with a street value of around £50m.”

Last night Burford residents reacted with shock to news of Haydon’s conviction.

Town councillor Sue Lofthouse said Haydon was keen on hunting, shooting and fishing.

She said: “He’s probably lived here all his life. I’m amazed. I can’t believe it.

“Burford doesn’t have criminals, except petty criminals. I don’t think we have ever had anything to do with drugs.

“He just seems the most unlikely person to be involved with something like that. He was a nice, ordinary person.”

But a villager, who asked not to be named, said he was less surprised.

He said: “He’s not a very pleasant chap. He borrowed a bag of cement from me and never gave it back.

“He was aggressive and a bit of a know-it-all.”

The Sempel brothers and Marshall will be sentenced on Wednesday, February 16, at Isleworth Crown Court. Haydon will be sentenced there on March 10.