10 members of the organised crime group are being sentenced after detectives toppled a 'truly massive' £53m plot
An organised crime group from Wigan was toppled by detectives who unearthed an enormous 'Amazon-style' dealing network which saw up to £53 million worth of cocaine trafficked throughout the UK. Carlisle Crown Court heard how the discovery of a 1kg class A drug stash, at Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District, during early February, 2023, prompted police to make arrests and seize the phones of three key players.
The drug had been imported from abroad before being warehoused and then distributed to towns and cities across the UK. Destinations included Cumbria, Hexham and Newcastle. Daryll Preston, 36, of Hampson Street, Atherton, also played a leading role and was an associate of Scott Owen, 33, of Salisbury Way, Tyldesley, who facilitated cocaine supply and had contacts abroad.
Four criminal couriers were trusted to transport cocaine potentially worth many millions of pounds and cash running into the hundreds of thousands. Thomas Whittaker, 45, of Brierfield, Digmoor, Skelmersdale; Michael Evans, 36, also from Skelmersdale; and 32-year-old Greater Manchester man Cain Turner, of no fixed address; made multiple journeys across England, into Wales and to Glasgow and Edinburgh between them.
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