Drug kingpin arrested while partying at Ibiza nightclub for £20m narcotics ring he ran with glam ex-girlfriend is jailed

Published on September 28, 2025 at 12:05 AM
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A DRUG kingpin arrested while partying at an Ibiza nightclub for a £20 million drug ring he ran with his ex-girlfriend has been jailed.

The couple from plotted to smuggle over 300 kilos of drugs in two lorries in the of 2022.

Mugshot of Eddie Burton, a young man with brown hair and freckles.Eddie Burton was jailed for 19 years for attempting to import drugs into the UK Sian Banks, a drug smuggling accomplice, takes a mirror selfie.Glam ex-girlfriend, Sian Banks, was also jailed Packages of heroin, cocaine, and ketamine.Some of the drugs were concealed in a modified fuel tank

Eddie Burton, 23, from Liverpool was jailed for 19 years at on Friday, September 26.

His glam ex-girlfriend, Sian Banks, 25, was sentenced to five years in February of this year.

Burton had been living in mainland in 2022 when two lorries were intercepted at Port containing heroin, cocaine and ketamine.

The first of those lorries was stopped by on July 3 and the second was intercepted the following month on August 12.

Overall, officers discovered a whopping 307 kilos with an estimated street value of £20 million.

Burton’s fingerprints were found on both the packages as well as the modified fuel tank that was used to conceal them.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched a huge manhunt for Burton who was living between the and after he left the in 2021.

Burton was put in cuffs by Spanish police in August 2023 at the Pacha nightclub in for unrelated drug dealing offences.

He had been using an alias to avoid being caught at the time but was extradited to and charged with drug offences before he was returned to the UK in March last year.

Following that, Burton pleaded guilty to four counts of importing Class A and B drugs.

According to the MailOnline , Burton was involved in drugs from an early age and started dealing them at 10 years old.

Those who knew him said he was engaging in serious criminal activity while he was still at primary school and weren’t surprised by his life’s trajectory.

Whereas Banks had a love of luxury holidays and high-end goods with a fondness for men with money, according to those who knew her.

She was arrested in December 2023 before she pleaded guilty to seven charges including importing Class A drugs and money laundering earlier this year.

She had visited Burton in the Netherlands and Spain on a monthly basis between June 2022 and October 2023.

Her had also revealed that she had twice smuggled cocaine and ketamine into her luggage after visiting Burton in in August 2022.

Messages were also uncovered between the pair two days after the first lorry was intercepted.

They showed that Banks had flown to the Netherlands and helped prepare the first shipment of narcotics.

One of the messages to Burton revealed Banks was concerned her fingerprints were on the bags of ketamine.

He replied: “You’ve never been nicked or had ye prints took anyway so doesn’t matter.”

It was also discovered that banks had sold scam travel documents during the pandemic.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer John Turner said: “Burton, with Banks’ help, attempted to smuggle huge quantities of harmful drugs into the UK, believing he could operate with impunity overseas.

“Banks held a crucial role in the criminal enterprise, laundering the illicit profits and acting as the UK-based facilitator for the multi-million pound drug importations.

“The drugs, had they reached their final destination, would have had a destructive impact on our communities, fuelling violence and exploiting vulnerable people throughout the supply chain.”

Seized blocks of illegal drugs, some marked "REX", "FMA", "007", "Nike swoosh", and "X2."The couple had attempted to import over 300 kilos of drugs Eddie Burton, drug smuggling mastermind.Burton started dealing drugs at the age of 10 Sian Banks, a "gangster's moll," holds a drink with a straw in her mouth, with decorative angel wings on her cheeks.Banks was also discovered to be selling doctored Covid-19 travel documents during the pandemic

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