These are some of the extreme lengths dealers have gone to in order to avoid the clutches of justice
These are some of the extreme lengths dealers have gone to in order to avoid the clutches of justice
Drug dealers operating in the upper echelons of the criminal fraternity often go to extreme lengths in order to conceal their illicit activities and escape the clutches of the law. Here, the ECHO has taken a look at some of the most audacious measures that organised crimes groups have taken in order to attempt to avoid justice, as heard by the courts during 2024.
They included an illicit supply operation which was described as a “Deliveroo for drugs”. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a former professional footballer imported his illegal wares into the UK hidden inside a vat of chemical waste.
Others were also ensnared by equally outlandish means undertaken by the police. One saw the National Crime Agency deploy a fake delivery driver and bugged dummy parcels.
Elliott Brew
A drug smuggler was caught throwing a tennis ball stuffed full of illicit substances into a prison yard. Elliott Brew was jailed for 27 months for conveying a prohibited substance into a prison.
Bernadette Cullen
A mum handed her fellow “Macca Line” drugs gang member a rock of crack cocaine in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court moments before they were due to be sentenced. Bernadette Cullen got high on class As ahead of the hearing while anticipating an “inevitable” prison term for her county lines dealing, then passed her leftovers to a co-defendant once in the courtroom.
Her bizarre and brazen actions saw her handed further time behind bars. She admitted supplying crack cocaine and was handed an additional 21 months behind bars.
Michael Whitty
A smuggler tried to fly to Dubai with Kinder Surprise eggs full of drugs hidden up his bum. Michael Whitty was caught with thousands of pounds of cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine after arousing the suspicions of sniffer dogs at Manchester Airport.
He later claimed that he had intended to consume the entire stash during a surprise holiday abroad. Whitty admitted being knowingly concerned in evading the prohibition on the exportation of cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine and was jailed for 35 months.
Anthony Fisher
A dad was arrested at an airport as he returned from a family holiday after his dog linked him to a heroin and cocaine trafficking operation. Anthony Fisher traded in kilo amounts of the class A drugs while using the handle “SkiBat” on encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit were also able to link him to the profile as he had set his password as his dog Reggie’s name, while the handle had been stored under the name “Fishy” by others. He and his fellow users secretly discussed debts that could “cause murders” and arranged illicit meetups in a Co-op car park before the service was infiltrated by law enforcement authorities during 2020.
Fisher admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. He was jailed for 11 years and three months.
Kane Ashcroft, Daniel Young and Neil Tootle
A man claimed he was “just out for a jog” when he was caught flying a drone into Walton prison. Kane Ashcroft and Daniel Young were spotted by police hurriedly bundling the aircraft into a bag in a nearby park after they were rumbled.
This led to an operation which saw drugs, tobacco and mobile phones delivered to serving inmates, including Neil Tootle, being brought down. Dozens of similar previous trips, which could have potentially seen illicit goods worth hundreds of thousands of pounds make their way into HMP Liverpool, were revealed as a result.
Ashcroft admitted three charges of conspiracy to convey a prohibited article into a prison and breaching a suspended sentence order. He was jailed for three years.
Tootle and Young pleaded guilty to two counts of the same offence. They were locked up for 44 months and nine months respectively.
Wayne McKenzie
A former professional footballer imported a shipment of guns into the UK hidden inside a vat of chemical waste. Wayne McKenzie then sold the firearms, some of which had been sourced from Yemen, onto Albanian gangs while making thousands of pounds in profit per piece.
He was also involved in the trafficking of cocaine and cannabis worth more than £2million, having utilised contacts around the globe as he plotted to smuggle drugs into the country on a yacht. He was convicted of being concerned in the evasion of a prohibition on the importation of firearms and cannabis, being concerned in the supply of cocaine and participating in the activities of an organised crime group by a jury, having admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and conspiracy to transfer criminal property, and was jailed for 30 years.
Elliot Garrity and Daniel McLoughlin
A “ambitious drug trafficker” bragged about making almost £15,000 in a single week with his lockdown delivery service. The operation set up by Elliot Garrity and Daniel McLoughlin was described as “effectively a Deliveroo for drugs”.
This included adverts being posted on Instagram stories. They were sentenced to eight years and 14 years and four months respectively.
Christian Adams and James Poland
A plot to smuggle nearly £5million of heroin into the UK from the Netherlands was foiled by a fake delivery driver and dummy parcels. Boxes packed full of class A drugs were posted to Christian Adams’ home as part of the scheme, but were intercepted following their arrival via air mail.
This allowed the National Crime Agency to bug the packages before they were collected by James Poland. He was then ensnared outside his waterfront flat.
Poland admitted conspiracy to import and supply class A drugs. Appearing via video link wearing a blue Montirex zip-up top, he shook his head and puffed his cheeks out then sat with his arms folded after being jailed for 10 years.
Adams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Seated beside his co-defendant wearing a black North Face jumper, he was locked up for eight years.
Robert Bennett and Peter McQuade
A grandad and a dock worker became embroiled in plots to traffic nearly 400kg of cocaine into the UK from the Netherlands and Brazil have been jailed for nearly 40 years. Robert Bennett enlisted the services of employee Peter McQuade in order to facilitate the smuggling of millions of pounds of the class A drug through the Port of Liverpool, having boasted contacts with close links to suppliers in Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Bennett admitted two counts of fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of cocaine. He was handed 19-and-a-half years.
McQuade pleaded guilty to fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of cocaine, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to possess criminal property. He was locked up for 16 years and 10 months.
Amy Portwood, Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian
Two prison workers ended up in tears in the dock after becoming “infatuated” with serving inmates. Amy Portwood and Adrienne Juniper smuggled drugs and other contraband into the jail where they were employed as carers, acting on behalf of convicted robbers Darren McAndrew and Philip Phythian.
They also exchanged a string of “overtly sexual” texts and WhatsApp messages with their behind bars boyfriends. The staff members even allegedly had the prisoners’ initials tattooed on their bodies.
McAndrew and Phythian admitted conveying prohibited articles into a prison and possession of a prohibited item in a prison. Appearing via video link to HMP Forest Bank, they were each handed a further three years and nine months behind bars.
Portwood and Juniper pleaded guilty to conveying prohibited articles into a prison and possession of heroin, cocaine, cannabis, cannabis resin and steroids with intent to supply. The former nodded and became tearful as she was locked up for 22 months.
Juniper meanwhile received as 22-month imprisonment suspended for two years, plus 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days. She burst into tears as she was spared an immediate jail term.
Jakob Plante
A man kept nearly £80,000 of ketamine and tens of thousands of pounds in cash in a storage unit which was leased by his mum. Jakob Plante was rumbled after staff clocked his suspicious behaviour as his mother paid off arrears which had been accrued for the lock up.
The 31-year-old admitted possession of ketamine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for 40 months.
Kyle Chase
An EncroChat drug trafficker known as “Three Fat Ladies” boasted contacts in Dubai with an ability to import ketamine from India. Kyle Chase, also known as Kyle Muldoon, gained revenue streams totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds as he dealt in multi-kilogram quantities of heroin and cocaine.
The DJ admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine and cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 12 years and eight months as his supporters sat in tears in the public gallery.
Leah Burke
A woman was caught smuggling more than £6,000 cannabis into a prison inside her bra to bring into a prison. Leah Burke pleaded guilty to conveying an illegal item and possession of cocaine and ketamine and was jailed for 15 months.
Edward Marshman
A taxi driver ran his own “one stop shop” for drugs which was open for business from “dusk till dawn”. Edward Marshman turned to dealing after building up debts from using cocaine in order to stay awake during his late night shifts.
The 49-year-old admitted possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply. He was jailed for four years and 10 months.
Darren Schofield, Stephen Martland, Paul Mockett, Neil Maguire, Paul O’Shea and David Jones
A gang led by a drug importer known as “Thor” attempted to smuggle £140m of cocaine into the UK from Sierra Leone. The huge stash of illicit class A substances was hidden inside a shipment of flour which was transported from West Africa by boat before its seizure at the border.
Members of the Merseyside-based organised crime group behind the plot have been locked up for a combined total of more than 75 years. They included a pensioner who was sentence to decades behind bars on his 70th birthday.
Darren Schofield admitted conspiracy to import cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Manchester, he was jailed for 20 years – reduced from 30 years for his guilty plea.
Stephen Martland was convicted of the same offence after trial, while Paul Mockett pleaded guilty to the charge. Appearing remotely from HMP Liverpool and HMP Preston, they were imprisoned for 21 and 13-and-a-half years respectively
Neil Maguire admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was handed 11 years and four months. Paul O’Shea pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was given six years.
David Jones, also appearing on the link from Walton prison, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. Darren Wetton pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and received a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
