FIVE Mexicans have been charged with operating a meth lab in a remote rural hideout after cops discovered a “kitchen” on some farmland.
The men are allegedly part of a criminal gang making methamphetamines near the hamlet of Furnace End, in North Warwickshire.
All five defendants denied their involvement at the hearing at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday, with one insisting they were a chef, another that they were a construction worker.
The case was adjourned and a trial set for the same court on February 15.
The men are currently being held in custody.
The defendants include Alejandro Ambriz Dimas, 45; Victora Ramirez, 47; Fausto Beltran, 33; Lioncio Moso Borja, 37; and Jose Nunez Angolo, 44.
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They are all from northwest Mexico, except for Dimas, who is from the south, the National Crime Agency said.
They were arrested on August 13 and initially appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court, where they were held in custody.
The men are understood to have conspired “together and with others” to produce the Class A drugs between February 6 and August 14.
Ambriz, who is fluent in English, denied the allegations.
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The remaining men entered their pleas with the assistance of two Spanish interpreters.
Informally known as crystal meth, or ice, methamphetamines are highly addictive stimulants.
While they have yet to fully take hold in the UK, several other countries already battle severe meth addiction problems, including Australia and the US.
It comes after builders used a drone to chase a hapless cannabis farmer across a £1million hidden drugs factory in Essex back in August.
The workers were able to track him down until he reached a main road, where he was nabbed by cops.