Heroin smuggling family jailed

The Fitzgibbon family "convicted themselves by their own words, in their own house", police said after officers hid a listening device in the family's detached home in an affluent Merseyside suburb.

In covert recordings the brothers can be heard bickering over who is the better drug dealer and in another Jason can be heard singing a version of Jessie J's song Price Tag. He can be heard singing: "It's all about the money, money, money."

A mother and her two sons have been jailed for 32 and a half years for their family drug dealing organisation.

Brothers Jason and Ian Fitzgibbon, and their mother, Christine, were caught after authorities seized 126lb (57kg) of heroin in Turkey and followed the trail back to Liverpool.

• Christine Fitzgibbon was jailed for two years for money laundering
• Jason Fitzgibbon was jailed for 16 years for conspiring to import heroin and money laundering
• Ian Fitzgibbon was jailed for 14 years and six months for conspiring to supply heroin and ecstasy and money laundering

All pleaded guilty to the charges at earlier court hearings.

Matt Burton, of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, said members of the Fitzgibbon family forged a network of international contacts, travelled to Turkey, sent criminal associates onoverseas deals and even kept up to speed on currency exchange rates to optimise profits from drug deals.

Two brothers and their mother have been sentenced to a total of 32 years and six months for a failed attempt to smuggle heroin in to the UK.

Christine Fitzgibbon and her sons, Ian and Jason were caught after authorities seized 126lb (57kg) of the class A drug in Turkey and followed the trail back to the family.

When police raided their home in Liverpool they found £137,000 in cash stuffed under floor boards.

Matt Burton, of the Serious Organised Crime Agency in the North West, said the Fitzgibbon family "revelled in their notoriety":

Members of a notorious criminal family will be sentenced later over a failed plot to smuggle more than £6 million of heroin into Britain.

Brothers Ian and Jason Fitzgibbon, and their mother, Christine, were caught after authorities seized 126lb (57kg) of the class A drug in Turkey and followed the trail back to Liverpool.

Police hid listening devices in the family's home, where they, "convicted themselves by their own words, in their own house."

When the detached house in Edale Road was raided, officers found £137,000 in cash stuffed under the floorboards.

Jason, 40, of Crofton Mansions, Crofton Estate, North Sudley Road, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin and Ian, 39, of Heigham Gardens, St Helens, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin at earlier court hearings.

Christine, 60, of Edale Road pleaded guilty to money laundering.

The brothers - both fathers-of-three - will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today, along with their mother and several criminal associates.