Nine Wigan men were imprisoned following an investigation that uncovered cocaine trafficking networks in the UK and overseas.
An NWROCU spokesman said that Reece Barnes, 31, was sentenced to 12 years in prison at Carlisle Crown Court today for conspiring to supply class A narcotics.
Following allegations that Barnes was selling cocaine in Windermere, the investigation got on in March 2022. It discovered that 350 kg of cocaine was being supplied to criminal organizations around the UK, with connections as far afield as Portugal and Dubai.
“We estimated that there were about £50m worth of drugs involved in the conspiracy during the course of the investigation and we also managed to seize significant quantities of drugs,” Det Ch Supt Ian Whitehead stated.
Investigators discovered that Barnes was meeting with 62-year-old Stephen Stockall, a member of an organized crime gang from Cheshire, who would exchange cocaine for £30,000 in cash.
Detectives stated that Barnes would sell the drugs in small quantities and use the proceeds to pay for vacations and trips to other cities. CCTV captured Barnes hiding the contraband in a storage unit close to his Windermere house.
Weaverham resident Stockall was taken into custody in February 2023 when his car was pulled down on the M56 and more than 40 grams of cocaine were discovered inside.
After he acknowledged conspiring to distribute class A drugs, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Following a narcotics deal with 32-year-old Cain Turner, Barnes was taken into custody on February 4, 2023, with one kilogram of cocaine, according to a NWROCU official.
When Hindley Green resident Turner’s car was pulled over, police say they discovered £30,000 in addition to the more than 22 kg of cocaine he had delivered to clients that day.
Turner was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison after confessing to the scheme. According to detectives, he carried more than 100 kg of cocaine, which was worth £13 million on the black market.
According to the research, they were collaborating with drug dealers in Dubai who were in charge of importing cocaine from Holland. They would dispatch couriers to ports on the south coast to pick up the cocaine and store it in secure Manchester facilities.
Anthony Warhurst, a 58-year-old courier, was pulled over in May 2023 on the freeway in possession of 50 kg of cocaine worth over £5 million.
Following their guilty pleas, Stephens was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Warhurst, of Leigh, to nine years and eight months.
Buller’s sentencing is scheduled for next month.
It was discovered that Barnes was receiving cocaine supplies from Skelmersdale residents Thomas Whittaker, 42, and Michael Evans, 36.
Officers found that, under the orders of a criminal organization in Portugal, they were selling it to clients all over the nation.
Evans was apprehended while traveling to Cardiff in possession of 7 kg of cocaine, which had a street worth of £700,000.
Whittaker received a 12-year sentence and Evans received a six-year sentence for acknowledging their responsibilities.
According to a NWROCU spokeswoman, two members of a Manchester-based criminal organization, Scott Owen, 33, and Daryl Preston, 36, also assisted in the cocaine supply.
Owen, of Astley, was found guilty after a trial and given a 14-year, six-month sentence.
According to a NWROCU spokesman, Preston, of Atherton, was sentenced to 11 years and six months after entering a guilty plea.
The convictions of these people will significantly affect the drug supply in the North West and the UK overall, since we have effectively closed off a conduit for drugs to enter the UK from Holland, according to Mr. Whitehead.Together, these many criminal organizations helped hundreds of consumers throughout the UK as well as Reece Barnes obtain hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.
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