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Mae’n ddrwg gennym, roedd problem dechnegol. Rhowch gynnig arall arni.
Twelve men have been sentenced for drugs offences after officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) and South West ROCU smashed a nationwide drug operation netting millions of pounds.
The organised crime group were running drugs from cannabis factories in Merseyside and Birmingham down to Torquay, headed up Jamie Hadley from Kingstanding in Birmingham.
Officers were already investigating a suspected drug dealer when they were alerted to suspicious activity in September 2021. A taxi driver from Birmingham drove to Torquay to collect a package from two men in Isaac’s Road and the next day another man drove from Birmingham to deliver a package to the same location.
Investigations later revealed the first package was cash and the second a large quantity of cannabis.
As officers began to keep track of those involved, a car was tracked from Birmingham to Liverpool in early October 2021, a location later revealed as a huge cannabis factory. The next day a car left the address in Liverpool and was stopped by police en route to Birmingham. The driver was arrested and the car was found to contain 12 kilograms of cannabis worth up to £58,000, and an even greater street value of £117,000.
Just two days later another car was stung on the M6 as it joined the M5 southbound, with the two occupants making off on foot. One was arrested following a foot chase and the other travelled several miles on foot. He was tracked by traffic officers and dog handlers to a local pizza shop and detained. Police found a kilogram of cocaine in a sleeping bag in the car with a street value of £100,000.
Phones seized from those arrested linked them to other members of the group and in November 2021 three more men were arrested - two in Torquay and one in Liverpool where cannabis and cash were seized.
In January 2022 a warrant was executed at a residential property in Hale Road, Widnes, where an industrial size cannabis factory was found and a man hiding in the loft. The yield from the crop was estimated at over £600,000 and a farm that size was capable of four crops a year.
A warrant the following day in a vacant three storey commercial property in Bradford Street, Digbeth revealed another cannabis factory containing 3,112 plants worth up to a staggering £1,300,000. Three men were arrested trying to run from the back of the property.
And just a stone’s throw away at a derelict factory at the junction of Birchall Street and Cheapside another 2,678 plants were found with evidence of many more hastily removed the night before.
Days later a Ford C-Max travelled from Kingstanding onto the M6 north where traffic officers attempted to stop it. The vehicle made off at over 110mph before attempting to leave the motorway and colliding with a traffic light, before coming to a stop. Both occupants fled but were caught by pursuing officers. The vehicle was found to contain several large bags, holding 42 kilograms of cannabis.
Detective Constable Sam Blackburn, from ROCUWM, said: “The scale of this enterprise had the potential to net the group millions of pounds, but in collaboration with our counterparts at SWROCU, we tracked their movements to identify those involved and put them before the courts.
“Drugs and the associated criminality ruins lives, and we are determined to bring offenders to justice.”
DCI Adam Smith of SWROCU added: “This joint investigation by SWROCU and ROCUWM demonstrates the strength of the ROCU network in dismantling criminal networks and protecting communities.
“It’s thanks to meticulous detective work and exceptional digital forensics that we have been able to deprive this organised crime group of their illegal commodity and their freedom.”
The following defendants were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court between 10 - 12 September:
Patrik Quarless aged 24 of Graburn Road, Formby, was also part of the conspiracy. Quarless pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison.
Jamie Hadley headed up the organised crime group