Drugs gang sentenced to more than 100 years for £53 million Lake District cocaine bust
Drugs worth up to £5 million were recovered as part of a police stop on the motorway.
A drugs gang has been sentenced to more than 100 years behind bars as part of a £53 million Lake District cocaine bust.
A North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) led to Operation Matrix, an investigation into the multi-kilo importation and distribution of Class A Drugs.
Eight of the defendants entered guilty pleas last year and one man, Scott Owen, was convicted on 25 January 2024 following a trial.
The investigation began in March 2022 when Cumbria Police asked NWROCU detectives to help them arrest Reece Barnes, a local drug dealer.
Barnes was responsible for selling cocaine in the Windermere area.
Reece Barnes was caught multiple times on CCTV stashing drugs in a storage unit.
Detectives monitored him and gathered evidence of his meetings with Cheshire-based Stephen Stockall. He would trade kilograms of cocaine for tens of thousands of pounds in cash.
CCTV footage showcased Barnes stashing the drugs in a shoe box in a local storage unit near to his house.
Reece Barnes was caught on CCTV stashing drugs in local storage unit.
He would then supply the drugs locally, reaping huge profits, which he would then use to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
Reece Barnes was captured multiple times on CCTV arriving at the storage unit.
Stockhall was arrested on 3 February 2023 whilst still on license from an earlier drugs conviction.
Stockhall's vehicle was stopped on the M56 where officers found more than 40g of cocaine hidden in his car.
A search of his house was then conducted and a further quantity of drugs and paraphernalia including a 'dealers list' with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drug sales documented.
Barnes then contacted Manchester-based Scott Owen and Daryl Preston to source larger quantities of the drug.
A quantity of cocaine was recovered from a car as part of the investigation.
On 4 February 2023 Barnes met with Cain Turner which led to the arrest of Barnes later that day. He was in possession of 1kg of cocaine.
Turner then delivered 22kg of cocaine on the same day to others before being stopped by police officers with more than £30,000 hidden under the front seat.
During the investigation officers discovered that Turner had transported more than 100kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of £13 million.
Turner was being controlled by a crime group that was led by Andrew Stephens.
The investigation then led to officers discovering other drug dealers who had been supplying Reece Barnes.
Thomas Whittaker and Michael Evans, both based in Skelmersdale, were supplying multi kilos of cocaine to people across the country.
They were directed by a criminal group in Portugal to supply people in Swansea and South Wales.
Michael Evans was arrested during a trip to Cardiff
During a trip to Cardiff, Evans was arrested with 7kg of cocaine which had a street value of more than £700,000.
Whittaker was later arrested near his home in Skelmersdale with 600g of cocaine hidden in a vehicle.
Andrew Stephens were caught using encrypted messaging platforms to send postcode of drug deals to couriers. They were being instructed by criminals in Dubai who were controlling the importations of cocaine from Holland to the UK.
Stephens would send couriers to ports along the south coast to collect the drugs for storage in safe houses in Manchester.
On 11 May 2023 Anthony Warhurst was used as a courier to pick up 50kg of cocaine from a port in Essex which had came in a shipment from Holland.
Warhurst was stopped on the motorway and arrested with the drugs having a street value of more than £5 million.
Scott Owen was arrested on a flight back to the UK from Portugal.
The final Manchester-based crime gang in the conspiracy were Scott Owen and Daryl Preston who facilitated the supply of multi-kilos of cocaine to Reece Barnes through Whittaker and Evans and also with links to Stephens.
On 13 May 2023, Owen was arrested on a flight back from Portugal.
In total Operation Matrix evidenced the supply of approximately 350kg of cocaine between the various crime groups valued in the region of £53 million.
Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Whitehead said: "The convictions of these individuals will have a significant impact on drug supply in the North West and the UK as a whole because we have effectively shut down a drug importation route from Holland into the UK.
“In total, nine people have now been convicted and sentenced to over 100 years in prison.
“Collectively these individual crime groups assisted each other in distributing hundreds of kilos of Cocaine not only to Reece Barnes, but to hundreds of customers across the UK.
“To try and evade police, they used sophisticated, encrypted apps to communicate with each other, regularly changing their travel routes, and would use multiple locations and couriers to facilitate the importations and supplies.
“We hope that this sends a message to criminals that you are not untouchable. We are committed to ridding the streets of drugs, robustly dealing with high harm offenders to reduce crime and restore trust and confidence in communities across the North West.
"I'd like to thank our colleagues at Cumbria, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Police as well as the CPS for their help throughout this investigation."
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