Drug Gang Jailed for 116 Years after Flooding UK with £8m of Cocaine

A drug gang have been jailed for a total of 116 years after using ‘invisible messages’ to flood the UK with £8 million worth of cocaine. 

The group have been jailed after flooding towns in the Midlands with the class A drug – as well as London, parts of the North West and Yorkshire.

Merseyside Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit busted the organised crime group.

Reports say that they sourced high purity cocaine on Merseyside and transported it across the country. Using military-style Encro phones, which makes messages invisible to detectives, they ran their massive criminal enterprise from a house in St Helens.

The devices are commonly favoured by criminals, costing £1,400 for six months of use.

Temporary Detective Superintendent Ian Hussey from the NWROCU Investigations Team said: “This crime group were distributing multi-kilos of cocaine, on a daily basis, across the UK to Bradford, Bolton, Newcastle, London, Nottingham, Scunthorpe, Sheffield and Wrexham.

“James Kelly ran the drugs operation from his home address in St Helens, using members of his OCG to transport and sell the drugs on his behalf.

“He also enlisted his brother’s help to launder the money they made from the selling the drugs.”