NATIONWIDE DRUG DEALING NETWORK BROUGHT DOWN

A multi-million-pound UK-wide cocaine conspiracy has been brought down after seven men were jailed for more than 60 years combined. 

Officers from the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) stopped the group in their tracks after finding 52-kilogrammes of cocaine on two people in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Those two people were James Garlick, 30, and Shane Wintle, 32, both of HMP Dovegate.

The 52-kilogramme seizure had a street value between £6,246,240 and £7,807,800.

The operation culminated with Wintle and Garlick being stopped in a vehicle which had cocaine inside.  The pair used a network of couriers to distribute cocaine throughout the UK, using encrypted communication apps on their phones to co-ordinate the supply of more than 350-kilogrammes of cocaine between 20 May and 19 June last year.

The duo’s network of couriers were also caught. Those people were:

·        Andrew Rushton, 46, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire

·        Harry Upton, 30, of Buxton, Derbyshire

·        Sam Upton, 28, of Full Sutton, York

·        Julian Buggs, 57, of no fixed address

·        David Rowley, 60, of Church Lawton, Cheshire.

They were all arrested on 15 October last year, before charges were brought to them.

Read more: https://orlo.uk/FnorM