Three guilty of drug-making plot

Timothy Morgan was the mastermind of the drug plot

Three men have became the first people in the UK to be convicted of conspiring to mass produce crystal meth.

Timothy Morgan, 41 of High Street, Wootton, and David Walker, 48, of Spring Hill, Ventnor, were found guilty of conspiracy to produce the drug.

Stefan Thomas, 43, of Gunville Road, Newport, had pleaded guilty to the charge at an earlier date.

Morgan will be sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday, with Walker and Thomas being sentenced later.

Only 6% of those who take the drug ever manage to come off it Det Sgt David Nealon

Det Sgt David Nealon, of Hampshire police, said that the prosecution came after an 18-month investigation into the gang which had the potential of producing £1.5m worth of the drug each year.

He said: "This is the first case involving the production of methylamphetamine to be brought through the UK courts.

"It was a ground-breaking investigation and a steep-learning curve for all the officers involved."

Det Sgt Nealon said Morgan had tried to set up a fake medical supply company to source the main ingredient ephedrine.

Methamphetamine comes in crystal, powder and pill form

But when this failed, the defendant resorted to attempting to extract it from a common cold remedy.

The trial heard that Morgan's illicit activities were first discovered after he was arrested outside a Newport nightclub and white powder was seen falling from his pockets.

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said that methylamphetamine - known as crystal meth or crystal ice - was currently a class B drug but is being reclassified to class A in January.

Det Sgt Nealon added: "It has had devastating effects on rural communities and can completely wipe people out because it is extremely addictive - 10 times more than other amphetamines - and only 6% of those who take the drug ever manage to come off it."