Men appear in court accused of drugs plot making crystal meth at hidden farms with five Mexicans

Four men have appeared in court accused of taking part in a drugs plot after secret 'meth labs' were found at two farms.

Officers say they busted the operation when they found a hidden factory near the hamlet of Furnace End in Warwickshire in August and also discovered five Mexicans living in a caravan nearby.

The Mexicans and four Britons were charged with plotting to produce the highly-addictive class A drug methamphetamine.

Kenneth Burton, Paul Harkness Mawby and Louis Anthony Devine, all 34, appeared at Teesside Magistrates' Court today.

Paul Doney, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court: 'It is a continuation of an investigation that resulted in the arrest and charge of five Mexican nationals arrested at Blossom Tree Farm and charged with the production of methamphetamine.

A photo previously released by police at the farm in Warwickshire shows a dingy basement containing at least three gas canisters, large plastic tubs and several containers connected to metal tubing.

Methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, is a Class A drug and comes in pill or powder form.

It is highly addictive and can lead to severe psychosis, a heart attack or a stroke.

Burton, of Wynyard, Co Durham; Mawby, of Thornaby, North Yorkshire; and Devine, of Ingleby Barwick, North Yorkshire, spoke only to confirm their personal details in the brief hearing.

They sat behind a glass-fronted screen as three female supporters watched on from a public gallery.

The men were detained on Thursday following police and National Crime Agency (NCA) raids in Birmingham and the North East.

They were refused bail and remanded to next appear at Teesside Crown Court on November 24 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

Bench chairwoman Elizabeth Carroll told them they face a 'significant and immediate custodial sentence if convicted'.

The five Mexican suspects – four of whom are from the Sinaloa region of north-west Mexico – face a month-long trial in February after denying involvement.

Alejandro Ambriz Dimas, 45, from Michoacan in southern Mexico; Victora Ramirez, 47, Fausto Beltran, 33, Lioncio Moso Borja, 37, and Jose Nunez Angolo, 44, claim they were legitimately working at the farm as chefs and builders.

They pleaded not guilty to conspiring to produce methamphetamine between February and August of this year.

All five Mexicans were remanded in custody.

Another British man, Mohammed Khan, appeared separately before magistrates in Wolverhampton.

Khan, 36, is also accused of being involved in the methamphetamine plot but was not required to enter a plea during his 25-minute hearing.

Khan, who was supported in court by two family members, was told he would next appear at Warwick Crown Court on November 23.