Four Lancashire men jailed for their involvement in £7.5m cocaine conspiracy
Four men from Lancashire have been jailed for their involvement in a £7.5m drugs conspiracy.
A major investigation into drug trafficking led by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has come to a close after three years.
The operation resulted in prison sentences totalling 203 years and two months for 16 men involved in the conspiracy.
The last defendant to be sentenced was 35-year-old Christopher Paul from Nelson, who received 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
His sentencing marks the conclusion of a significant chapter in the investigation, which involved multiple defendants and lengthy trials.
Det Sgt Mark Rigby, from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said: “This has been an exhaustive investigation which has resulted in over 200 years of prison sentences.
“This is a true testament to years of hard work and dedication by officers across the serious crime division and colleagues at the Crown Prosecution Service who have given us endless hours of their time, insight, and expertise throughout this entire investigation.”
When did the investigation start?
Specialist detectives launched a covert investigation into an organised crime group in the summer of 2022.
The gang were believed to be in control of a multi-million-pound drug conspiracy across the North West.
The gang's kingpins Jonathan Smith and Louis Cleworth first came to the police's attention during a surveillance operation into another organised crime group.
This investigation, codenamed Operation Bowler, was into James Mulligan and his co-conspirators, with detectives securing jail sentences for 11 men in 2023 for almost 70 years.
As the operation progressed, it became clear that Cleworth and Mulligan were in regular communication.
Mulligan and David Keenan were also witnessed by surveillance meeting Jonathan Smith.
What happened when James Mulligan was arrested?
James Mulligan was arrested as part of the original investigation in October 2021.
Following his arrest, Jonathan Smith ceased using his mobile device and stopped activating ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras in Nelson and Blackpool.
To further remove him from the potential attention of police, the OCG replaced him with Jacob Smith, who took over his courier role until March 2022.
By March 2022, feeling confident that any potential police investigation had now dried up following Mulligan’s arrest, Jonathan Smith confidently came back to work.
However, unbeknown to him, the entire criminal group were still under surveillance.
When did police take down the gang?
Four months later, detectives had gathered enough evidence to execute a strike and arrest the entire criminal network and bring them in for questioning.
The conspiracy involved in this investigation ran between September 1, 2021 until July 20, 2022, when police executed simultaneous strikes on their addresses.
During this period, the group were responsible for the movement of at least 75 kilos of high purity cocaine, which has an estimated street sale value of £7.5million.
However, the total figure this group were involved with is suspected to exceed this.
Louis Cleworth played a leading role in the OCG, and working beneath him, several individuals played vital roles to ensure the operation ran smoothly, with customers based across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and West Yorkshire.
Through months of surveillance, customers and co-conspirators across the region were identified, with clear evidence of multi-kilo transactions occurring.
ANPR, telephone analysis and surveillance revealed the OCG made an excess of 150 journeys between Middleton and various delivery sites across the region during the conspiracy period, delivering Class A drugs to paying customers.
In May 2022, officers observed an exchange between Storey and Hague on Stakehill Lane in Middleton.
Police later stopped Hague in Bradford and recovered two solid parcels wrapped in brown parcel tape and plastic, bearing a distinctive tiger emblem on the packaging.
The parcels were later analysed and confirmed to be high purity cocaine.
The following day, police arrested Cleworth at his home in Middleton, where they discovered over £3,000 in cash, a mobile phone, and keys to a property believed to be used as a safe house.
Officers also found six kilos of cannabis and two blocks of cocaine wrapped in brown parcel tape and a distinctive tiger emblem.
In July 2022, following months of surveillance and several crucial arrests, police executed 13 simultaneous strikes at properties across Greater Manchester.
Thousands of pounds of cash, designer clothes, high value jewellery and debtor lists from the defendants were subsequently seized.
One dramatic arrest took place at Riley’s property in Middleton, where he attempted to flee in his underwear but was quickly detained by police.
Officers also noticed a smell of burning plastic in his house and smoke coming from the toilet bowl.
Police recovered two mobile phones from the toilet which had both been shattered and snapped in half in an attempt to destroy evidence.
A total of 16 men were jailed as part of the operation into the conspiracy.
“Drugs trafficking is a major source of revenue for organised crime groups, and it brings a culture of violence and addiction to our communities,” Det Sgt Rigby added.
“Through conducting hundreds of painstaking hours of surveillance, we were able to build this case and bring each and every offender operating in this conspiracy to justice, despite their efforts to evade police.”
The convicted gang members and co-conspirators are:
- Christopher Paul, 35, of Hill Place, Nelson, was jailed for 16 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
- Liam Bottomley, 31, of Adstone Avenue, Blackpool, was jailed for ten years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Bradley Hughes, 31, of Rosemary Avenue, Blackpool, was jailed for 13 years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Waqar Ahmed, 38, Fountain Street, Nelson, was jailed for 15 years for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Anthony Nicholls, 32, of Alder Avenue, Bury, was jailed for 17 years and six months for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.
- Kyle Salt, 32, of Allen Roberts Road, Newton Heath was jailed for ten years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Jacob Smith, 34, of Higher Wood Street, Middleton, was jailed for ten years and ten months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Louis Cleworth, 37, of Hawkshead Drive, Middleton, was jailed for 14 years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Mark Hague, 56, of Scholes Street, Bradford, was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
- Jonathan Smith, 41, of Swinstead Avenue, Manchester, was jailed for 17 years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Reece Storey, 34, of Newby Drive, Middleton, was jailed for nine years and nine months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- James Kilcourse, 57, of Boarshaw Clough Way, Middleton, was jailed for seven years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Elliot Riley, 31, of Mossway, Middleton, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Marshall Ashley, 30, of Scholes Street, Bradford was jailed for 11 years and three months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- David Ditchfield, 36, of Paignton Ave, Hattersley, was jailed for 15 years and six months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
- Jordan Wood, 34, of Argyle Street, Heywood, was jailed for 14 years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.