‘El Chapo of the Cotswolds’ accused of helping to run $6.5m drugs racket from home near Bristol

A man dubbed the ‘El Chapo of the Cotswolds’ faces extradition to the US on six drug charges. Matthew Grimm, a 49-year-old father of two who lives near Bristol, is accused of helping to run a $6.5million drugs racket and faces up to 120 years in prison.

Officers from the National Crime Agency detained him last November after the US issued a warrant. Grimm is accused of shipping substances to US-based customers from the Netherlands via an online portal called Smokey’s Chem Site.

As reported by The Mirror, the alleged operation began in 2012 and was shut down by an undercover operation. The drugs are reportedly to have included psychoactive bath salts.

Grimm, a keen cyclist, arrived to answer bail at Chipping Sodbury Police Station last week. He told a reporter from the Mirror: “Let them bring it on. I’m 49 now, so how could I serve that long?
His alleged earnings are so high that he became the first person targeted by the US under Executive Order 14059 – brought in two years ago by President Joe Biden to help combat fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, blamed for hundreds of deaths. The US Treasury said British and Dutch police helped it to track Grimm along with two Dutch nationals in a separate case over the sale of “illicit drugs purchased online and via dark net marketplaces”.

He now faces five counts county of trafficking and one of money-laundering. It is reported that each offence carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
However, Grimm’s lawyer says his client denies any wrongdoing. He is also worried at extradition would distance him from his two children, aged nine and 12, who live with his ex-partner.

But district judge Nina Tempia rejected the pleas and sent the case to Home Secretary Suella Braverman. The judge wrote: “[Grimm] faces extremely serious charges in the US for drug importation… I have to bear [in] mind the strong public interest that the UK upholds its international treaty obligations and that… the UK should not be seen as a safe haven.”

Grimm’s co-accused, Carrie-Ann Tooley, a 53-year-old US national, faces two charges of importing drugs and one of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and is due to face trial in Florida in December. A final decision on Grimm’s extradition is due in December.

Article Credit: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/el-chapo-cotswolds-accused-helping-8868691