South Devon man jailed for importing cannabis worth £7m

A South Devon man who imported cannabis worth around £7million has been jailed for five years.

Leon Day pleaded guilty to importing the drugs into the UK in 2025 hidden in shipments of incontinence pants, wood, latex gloves and car seats.

The 49-year-old, previously of Warren Road, Torquay, appeared at Exeter Crown Court today [9 February] where he was sentenced for his ‘calculated and selfish crimes’.

Day imported the cannabis in three separate shipments from Singapore.

The first was a package intercepted by UK Border Force [UKBF] in July 2025 and was found to contain 40kg of cannabis hidden among boxes of adult incontinence pants.

Officers from Devon & Cornwall Police’s South Devon Proactive Unit, assisted by UKBF, began an investigation and established that this was destined for a business registered to Day in Newton Abbot.

Unbeknownst to Day, police also knew that further shipments were due to arrive at UK ports.

The second shipment intercepted by UKBF and police was in October 2025 - inside this container were pallets of stacked wood concealing around 270kg of cannabis.

Officers arrested and charged Day with importing the drugs and while on remand in prison, UKBF and police intercepted a third shipment in November 2025. Within this container were boxes of latex gloves and car seats, both concealing around 400kg of cannabis.

In total, over 700kg of cannabis, with a street value of over £7million was seized during this operation and has since been destroyed.

Day told officers ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ when he was arrested.

But he was charged and admitted two counts of being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug, for the first two seized shipments.

Day was not formally charged in relation to the third container but admitted the offence and it was taken into consideration as part of his sentencing.

Detective Chief Inspector Becky Davies said: “We welcome the sentencing of Leon Day for these calculated and selfish crimes. Day would have carried out a significant amount of planning to facilitate the importation and delivery of these drugs.

“The impact of drugs supply and use within communities has a significant impact and causes so much hidden harm and the facilitation of that by people like Day will not be tolerated.

“If you have information about suspicious illegal drug activity, please report it to help us build up the wider picture of illegal drugs activity taking place in our communities.”

You can report drug related activity to us through our non-emergency channels or, alternatively, you can contact the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.