Leaders of a Liverpool drugs gang lived the high life with their vast illicit profits – splashing cash on VIP boxes at Anfield and far-flung holidays.
But the 18-strong gang of crooks were today waking up to the prospect of a combined 140 years in prison after being locked up over their £5.8m conspiracy.
They used a tiny cottage in a Devon village as their base to peddle cocaine and heroin shipped out of Merseyside.
Leader Daniel Smith and his lieutenants used a network of gophers and couriers to carry out their dirty work as they lived a jet-set lifestyle, despite having no legitimate source of income.
When those at the bottom of the chain were arrested, police said the gang would simply enlist others to do their bidding.
Watch: Meeting between drug dealers Daniel Smith and Robert Murphy
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Vans, adapted so that drugs could be stored in hidden compartments, were used to ship the drugs in bulk to the South Coast.
The operation lasted for at least a year before being broken up by Devon and Cornwall police in an undercover operation codenamed Reform.
Heroin and cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.25m and cash in excess of £91,500 was intercepted.
But detectives believe the true value of the drugs being sold approached the £6m mark.
Fanatical Liverpool supporter Smith, who moved to Paignton, Devon, headed up the drugs racket alongside Paul Fagan. Key right-hand-men Thomas Kehoe and Kevin Deary controlled the operation from Liverpool.
Robert Murphy was a trusted lieutenant and Andrew Cleland acted as the stash man.
Smith, Kehoe and Deary were instrumental in organising the supply of the drugs, moving their men and resources around the country to ensure that the operation ran smoothly.
Brothers Neil and John Cupit played a major part in the conspiracy. John, at the Liverpool end, distributing the drugs for Kehoe, and Neil organising the storing and distribution of the drugs in Devon.
Police told how Smith would entertain contacts in a private box at Anfield on his visits back to the city and revealed that those at the top of the gang enjoyed a raft of foreign holidays.
Detective Constable Paul Dorothy said: “Many of these men had no obvious sources of income, yet enjoyed lavish lifestyles from their role in the drug trade.
“Ian Ross played a major part in drug dealing within Torbay, and Mark Worrall was employed as a stash man, to store and hide the drugs on behalf of the gang after Cleland was arrested.
“The gang used a number of men to courier drugs and money between Liverpool and the South West. Jordan Caldwell, Donald Macaskill, John Wilson, Michael Griffith, John Fagan, Paul Wade, Lee Sumner, Ashley Tierney and Jordan Taylor all acted as couriers at times throughout the course of the operation.”
Police proved that there had been at least 48 courier runs from Liverpool to Devon in a 12-month period.
DC Dorothy added: “A number of warrants were executed simultaneously in October at addresses in Warrington, Liverpool and Torbay.
“As more people were arrested, the more desperate the gang became and once they had no-one else to turn to, senior members of the gang including Neil Cupit and Thomas Kehoe were forced to do the dirty work themselves.
“We arrested Cupit in December in possession of nearly half a kilo of heroin with a street value of £50,000 and found £6,700 in Thomas Kehoe’s property in Liverpool with the fingerprints of a Torquay drug dealer.
“We are pleased with the sentences given out to this gang by the court, and we hope that this will act as a deterrent.”
Seventeen of the 19 suspects pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. The remaining two were found guilty following trial.
Sentences:
Top-tier:
Daniel Smith, 29 from Liverpool, 13 years, 4 months in prison
Thomas Kehoe, 26 from Liverpool 12 years, 3 months in prison
Kevin Deary, 28 from Torquay 9 years, 3 months in prison
Paul Fagan, 32 from Paignton 10 years in prison
Andrew Cleland, 41 from Torquay 10 years in prison
Robert Murphy, 33 from Brixham 7 years, 6 months in prison
Ian Ross, 37 from Paignton 6 years, 8 months in prison
Mark Worrall, 51 from Brixham, 2 years, 2 months in prison
Neil Cupit, 30 from Liverpool 8 years in prison
John Cupit, 32 from Liverpool 6 years in prison
Drug Couriers:
Jordan Caldwell, 27 from Liverpool 6 years in prison
Donald Macaskill, 56 from Liverpool 9 years, 4 months in prison
John Wilson, 49 from Liverpool 10 years in prison
Michael Griffith, 43 from Wolverhampton 6 years, 8 months in prison
John Fagan, 42 from Liverpool 4 years in prison
Paul Wade, 41, from Liverpool 2 years, 8 months in prison
Lee Sumner, 37 from Liverpool 6 years, 8 months in prison
Ashley Tierney, 28 from Paignton 5 years, 10 months in prison
Jordan Taylor, 20 from Paignton 3 years, 4 months in prison
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/