Five men have admitted their parts in what police believe could be “Britain’s largest cannabis smuggling ring”.

The men, including two from Kingston and one from Surbiton, were due to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of importing an estimated £45m of drugs from Holland in flower delivery lorries, but pleaded guilty last week.

Money and drugs were alleged to have changed hands in car parks in Tolworth, Esher, Epsom and Cobham, as part of a £1m-a-week network.

Terry Bowler, 40, of St Albans Road, Kingston, Mark Kinnimont, 39, of Claremont Road, Surbiton, and Peter Brown, 37, of Kings Henry’s Road, Kingston, had denied involvement in the plot after their arrests in November.

Dawn raids involved searches of 35 homes and garages in Worcester Park, Epsom, East Molesey, Ashtead, Ewell, Surbiton, Kingston, Wimbledon and Sutton.

On October 28, at Southwark Crown Court, the men admitted conspiring to import, supply and launder the proceeds of drug supply, as well as conspiring to conceal the proceeds.

Kinnimont was described as “high up” in the chain and had two mobile phones, but used a public phone to make calls.

Brown, a lorry driver, was spotted by police hiding in plain sight by wearing a high-visibility jacket to detract attention from his activities.

Liam Salter, 38, from Tadworth, Roger Alexander, 43, from High Wycombe, the group’s wholesale drug dealer, and Peter Moran, 36, from Fulham, also pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Timothy Sullivan, 38, who gave the court a home address in Ash Court, Epsom, but was extradited from a jail in France, and David Couchman, from Southwark, had also reversed their initial denials at an earlier hearing on September 14.

The group will be sentenced at a date to be determined.