'Our family has been torn apart' (From Enfield Independent)

Sister of man jailed for selling drug bulking chemicals claims family has been 'torn apart' by his sentence

5:34pm Monday 18th February 2013 in News By Hermione Wright

The sister of a man jailed for selling tonnes of chemicals used to bulk up Class A drugs claims their family has been "torn apart" by his sentence.

Gursu Akgun, 29, of Lawrence Avenue in Walthamstow, was jailed for six years and nine months on Tuesday, February 12, after pleading guilty to selling cutting agents in the belief it would encourage or assist an offence.

He was jailed with brothers Antony Savva, 29, of Southfield Road in Ponders End, and Vangelis Savva, 26, of Cobham Close in Bush Hill Park.

The trio - who met at Bournemouth University - were jailed for more than 20 years in total for importing three-and-a-half tonnes of powders including Benzocaine, Lidocaine, Phenacetin, caffeine and paracetamol powder from China.

Although importing the stash was legal, they were prosecuted under new legislation which makes it illegal to sell the powders if there is a chance it would encourage or assist criminality.

Akgun's 33-year-old sister, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The family is devastated. 

“He has had this hanging over him for a long time. They are actually the victims here – our family has been torn apart from this.”

It is estimated the amount of powder seized by the police, when mixed with class A drugs, could have reached a street value of £246million.