A London crime gang who tried to flood the streets of the capital with £1billion worth of illegal drugs have been jailed for a total of 195 years.
The gang of 12 men, headed by dealer Paul O’Brien, from Uxbridge, attempted to smuggle cocaine and heroin into the country with secretive deals on the encrypted messaging app, EncroChat.
Police began investigating the south-west London gang in 2020, intercepting a drug deal between ringleaders O’Brien, 57, and partner-in-crime Lee Mortimer, 40, from Ruislip.
They seized more than 160 kilograms of cocaine and £1million in cash as well as “high value” jewellery and vehicles.
Those arrests then led them to discover the existence of a related drug gang operating out of Greater Manchester, headed by Jonathan Strogylos.
Officers cracked their encrypted EncroChat messages and found that the gang had imported 8.5 tonnes of cocaine into the UK between 2017 and 2020.
A Met Police spokesperson said the total value of the drugs smuggled into the UK was more than £1billion.
In a joint operation with the National Crime Agency and Essex Police, they were also able to seize another 138 kilograms of cocaine and eight kilograms of heroin which was smuggled into the country from Harwich Port in Essex.
Gang members Paul O’Brien, Lee Mortimer, Marcus Elmer, Jonathan Whitley, Anthony Sheehan, Marcin Jadasz, Jonathan Strogylos, Matthew Parsons, Paul Shaw, Liam Cherrett, John Maguire, and Ross Maguire were all handed sentences between four years and 31 years for their parts in the criminal enterprise.
Met Detective Chief Superintendent Ella Marriott said: “We’ve seen time and time again that the supply of drugs has devastating consequences on communities across the country.
“It causes addiction, has devastating health impacts and leads to anti-social behaviour and violence.
"This investigation should serve as a message to criminals and gang members bringing drugs onto our streets - we will come after you and we will bring you to justice.”
Who was who in £1bn coke and heroin gang?
O’Brien, 57, of Bourn Avenue, Uxbridge was sentenced to 21 years for conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin.
Mortimer, 40, of Glenhurst Avenue, Ruislip was sentenced to 18 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and for money laundering.
Elmer, 52, of Riverbank Point, Uxbridge was sentenced to 15 years 6 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine and for money laundering.
Whitley, 56, of Park Road, Rickmansworth was sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and for money laundering.
Sheehan, 37, of Hilltop Close, Ascot was sentenced to 4 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Jadasz, 47, of Poland, was sentenced to 16 years for conspiring to import cocaine and heroin into the UK.
Strogylos, 36, of Cheltenham Road, Stockport was sentenced to 31 years for conspiring to import and supply cocaine.
Parsons, 38, of Bury Old Road, Manchester was sentenced to 29 years for conspiracy to supply and import cocaine.
Shaw, 38, of Kirkstone Drive, Manchester was sentenced to 17 years 9 months for conspiracy to supply and import cocaine.
Cherrett, 45, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 9 years 2 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
John Maguire, 65, of Golborne Avenue, Manchester was sentenced to 16 years 11 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Meanwhile, Ross Maguire, 36, of Bideford Road, Manchester was sentenced to 7 years 7 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
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