{"id":12514,"date":"2018-09-20T07:21:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T11:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=12514"},"modified":"2018-09-20T07:25:15","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T11:25:15","slug":"manchester-drugs-gang-jailed-over-100m-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/09\/20\/manchester-drugs-gang-jailed-over-100m-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester drugs gang jailed over \u00a3100m operation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Eight members of a &#8220;sophisticated&#8221; \u00a3100m drug-dealing ring have been jailed for up to 24 years.<\/p>\n<p>Police said the Greater Manchester gang flooded north-east England with drugs.<\/p>\n<p>During the trial, the Manchester Crown Court jury heard the operation was run like a legitimate business, even offering corporate hospitality.<\/p>\n<p>Gang leader Marcus Callaghan, 34, of Manchester, was sent to prison for 24 years while other gang members were jailed for between 21 and four years.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/103D8\/production\/_103502566_marcuscallaghan2.jpg\" alt=\"Gang leader Marcus Callaghan\" width=\"976\" height=\"749\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" \/><\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"media-caption__text\">Gang leader Marcus Callaghan was sentenced to 24 years in prison<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Callaghan was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and cannabis and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime,<\/p>\n<p>The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) discovered Callaghan and his associates were supplying millions of pounds worth of drugs to contacts in Middlesbrough and the North East.<\/p>\n<p>The operation was run from a flat in Stalybridge, where drugs would be stored before being driven to the North East in hire cars and handed to buyers for distribution.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/4BDC\/production\/_103502491_cash.jpg\" alt=\"Cash found in searches of defendants' flats and cars\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" \/><\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"media-caption__text\">A large amount of cash was found by police in searches of defendants&#8217; flats and cars<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The court was shown CCTV video of Callaghan, of Newcastle Street, Hulme, with defendants Theodore Henry and Thomas Jaffray celebrating New Year&#8217;s Eve at an exclusive Edinburgh hotel and bar.<\/p>\n<p>They spent thousands of pounds on drinks and rooms while meeting clients they hoped to do business with.<\/p>\n<p>Police said searches of the defendants&#8217; flats and cars in February uncovered drugs and cash worth about \u00a331m, while evidence from books kept suggested the whole operation was worth more than \u00a3100m.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image__img js-image-replace\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/10F90\/production\/_103502596_drugsfoundundercabinets-stacked.jpg\" alt=\"Drugs stacked in piles\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\" data-highest-encountered-width=\"624\" \/><\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"media-caption__text\">Police found drugs stashed under kitchen cabinets during searches of defendants&#8217; properties<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Other members sentenced<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Theo Henry, 30, of Culmington Close, Manchester &#8211; 21 years. Admitted supplying drugs, possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Kaneil Henry, 25, Culmington Close, Manchester &#8211; 12 years. Admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Thomas Jaffray, 34, of Eastwood Road, Middlesbrough &#8211; 13 years and four months. Admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Stephen Sewell, 38, of Colmore Avenue, Middlesbrough &#8211; 10 years and eight months. Admitted conspiracy to supply drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Richard Llewellyn, 34, of Roworth Road, Middlesbrough &#8211; seven years. Admitted conspiracy to supply drugs<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Rui Zhu, 39, of Graham Street, Birmingham &#8211; six years. Convicted of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Jerome Hamilton, 22, of Northdown Avenue, Manchester &#8211; four years. Convicted of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Kristian Maloney, 33, of Sefton Road, Middlesbrough, is due to be sentenced later for conspiracy to supply drugs and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n<p>Det Insp Jason Pye from NWROCU said: &#8220;This was a sophisticated and very well-organised crime group that flooded Middlesbrough and the North East with heroin and cocaine, blighting the lives of some of the most vulnerable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-manchester-45577340\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Eight members of a &#8220;sophisticated&#8221; \u00a3100m drug-dealing ring have been jailed for up to 24 years. Police said the Greater Manchester gang flooded north-east England with drugs. During the trial, the Manchester Crown Court jury <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/09\/20\/manchester-drugs-gang-jailed-over-100m-operation\/\" title=\"Manchester drugs gang jailed over \u00a3100m operation\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,4],"tags":[1872,117,5558,5088,4562,5559],"class_list":{"0":"post-12514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-uk","10":"tag-birmingham","11":"tag-drugs","12":"tag-hulme","13":"tag-manchester-crown-court","14":"tag-middlesbrough","15":"tag-stalybridge","16":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12515,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12514\/revisions\/12515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}