Nine members of a Merseyside based organised crime group, ‘the Coggins OCG’, have been jailed for more than 155 years for blackmail and Class A drug supply.

It can now be reported that as a result of Operation Subzero, an NWROCU investigation into blackmail and the multi-kilo importation and distribution of cocaine and heroin throughout Merseyside and the UK, eight defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced over the last three years, and the final defendant, Robert Jarvis, was sentenced today (Friday 4 October) at Manchester Crown Court.

The conspiracy began to unravel when a Salford criminal family, Jason and Craig Cox, plotted with Merseyside drug dealer Richard Caswell and Ben Monks-Gorton from Lancashire, to rob the Coggins OCG's stash house on Croxdale Road West in Huyton.  

On 23 May 2020, the Cox brothers and Caswell stormed into the stash house after Monks-Gorton approached the house, posing as a delivery man. They attacked Paul Glynn and his son with a machete before taking off with approximately 30kg of cocaine worth more than £1 million pounds.

When Vincent Coggins, the head of the OCG, found out about the robbery he made threats of serious violence against the people who had taken his drugs, ordering his criminal associates Robert Jarvis, Paul Woodford, and Michael Earle to track them down.

They had no idea that authorities in France and the Netherlands had infiltrated EncroChat, an encrypted messaging app used by criminals, including the Coggins OCG, to plan and coordinate their criminal activity. They retrieved data from the platform and shared it with the NCA and national law enforcement agencies.

Unbeknownst to the Coggins OCG, the NCA was sharing this evidence with detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), who began monitoring their every move, resulting in the discovery of their threats of violence against Brian Maxwell Junior and two others - the three people they believed were responsible for the stash house robbery.

In one message exchange between Kingwasp and Moonlitboat, they discuss the robbery and Coggins says “Heads gone. I've got the c**t bang to rights. Give *** chance today to give back, f**k the doe m going to kill him an his firm.”

The conversation continues and Woodford asks Coggins if he wants him to buy a gun, referring to it as a ‘belter’. Coggins responds with “M8 just bought load more, we cool for tools.”

NWROCU detectives acted quickly, seeking support from Merseyside Police who delivered disruption notices to Woodford, Earle, and Coggins via his niece. Maxwell Junior and two other people were also served with threat to life notices.

Unnerved by the increased police presence around the homes of those they believed were responsible, Coggins and his crime group agreed to delay their plans.

Brian Maxwell Senior quickly became aware of the OCG's threat to his son Brian Maxwell Junior. Despite having no role in the robbery, he negotiated with Coggins, signing over his home and some land worth more than £1 million pounds, the value of the stolen drugs, in exchange for his son's safety.

But Coggins wasn’t satisfied with this, and instead agreed to wait until the police presence had died down before carrying out his violent retribution.

On 13 June 2020, the EncroChat servers were shut down after administrators sent a message to all users of the devices warning them that there had been a compromise, giving them instructions to turn off and destroy their devices.

This led NWROCU detectives to move quickly into their arrest phase.

On 16 June 2020, Merseyside Police carried out coordinated warrants across Liverpool and Knowsley which resulted in the arrests of Coggins, Earle, Woodford, and Jarvis, before they’d had a chance to put their plans into place.

In the weeks and months that followed, detectives executed other warrants against the wider crime group, resulting in the arrests of Kevin Rimmer, Darren Tierney, Dean Borrows, and Paul Glynn. Paul Fitzsimmons was arrested in Amsterdam after being on the run for more than two years.

After months of painstaking work going through more than 72,000 messages retrieved from the Encro server, NWROCU detectives were able to link the Encro handles to the OCG members. In this case they attributed "Moonlitboat" to Vincent Coggins, "Softherb" to Robert Jarvis, “Kingwasp” to  Paul Woodford, "Sappystag” to Kevin Rimmer, “Olivescooter” to Dean Borrows, “Scalpstaff” to Darren Tierney, “Northknee” to Paul Fitzsimmons, and “Bladehedge" to Michael Earle.

They were able to compile a thorough timeline thanks to the OCG’s exchanged texts and photos as well as cell site analysis. This all coincided with police activity and arrests, supporting the evidence that these men were the ones behind the anonymous handles.

They were also able to determine from the messages this was a highly organised network with a hierarchy of criminals who each had their own role to play.

At the top, Coggins, known as ‘the gaffa’ and ‘headmaster’ directed deals with other crime groups. Although he wasn’t involved in the day to day running of drug deals, he sold wholesale quantities of cocaine to Paul Woodford, who then used them for onward supply.

Robert Jarvis ran the day-to-day business for Coggins with Fitzsimmons, arranging deals with buyers and directing couriers to collect money. He was also involved in the blackmail conspiracy.

Paul Fitzsimmons ran drug deals and acted as a ‘banker’, recording, and storing money for the OCG.

Paul Woodford, bought and sold drugs for Vincent Coggins and was involved in the blackmail conspiracy.

Kevin Rimmer, Dean Borrows, and Darren Tierney were couriers, delivering drugs and money across the UK for Jarvis and Fitzsimmons.

Paul Glynn played a pivotal role, living in and controlling the stash house on behalf of Coggins.
Michael Earle sold Class A drugs and was involved in the blackmail conspiracy. 

Those sentenced as part of Operation Subzero include:

Vincent Coggins, 58, of Woodpecker Close, Liverpool was jailed for 28 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and blackmail.

Paul Woodford, 58, of Marl Road, Liverpool was jailed for 24 years and six months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and blackmail.

Michael Earle, 48 of Wallace Drive, Huyton was jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and blackmail.

Darren Tierney, 46, of Chatham Street, Stockport was jailed for 12 years and nine months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin). 

Paul Fitzsimmons, 60, of Birch Tree Court, Liverpool was jailed for 12 years and six months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin).   

Kevin Rimmer, 57, of Blacklow Brow, Huyton was jailed for 16 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin).

Dean Borrows, 39, of Ledson Grove, Liverpool was jailed for 14 years and three months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin).

Paul Glynn, 59, of Croxdale Road West, Liverpool was jailed for 11 years and two months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine).

Robert Jarvis, 59, of Breckside Park, Liverpool was jailed for 25 years following a trial for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and blackmail. 

The Cox brothers, Richard Caswell, and Ben Monks-Gorton were jailed for more than 40 years as part of ‘Operation Geladi’, an investigation led by officers from Greater Manchester Police into the stash house robbery and machete attacks.

T/Detective Chief Inspector Dave Worthington from the NWROCU’s Operations Team said:

“This is without doubt the most significant operation that we have dealt with as part of Operation Venetic and I’m delighted that these men are behind bars for a considerable amount of time.

“This notorious crime group ran their operation using encrypted mobile phones they believed to be secure, but thankfully they were mistaken. These were extremely dangerous men, and had we not come across the serious threats of violence from the Coggins OCG through Operation Venetic – this could have been a very different outcome.

“It’s clear that the Coggins OCG thought they were untouchable, and their messages untraceable, but with support from the NCA and Merseyside Police, we were able to bring this criminal enterprise to its knees and prove them wrong.

“This crime group made substantial amounts of money through their ill-gotten gains. The cash they made was moved and transferred via various means to launder it, which subsequently funded their lavish lifestyles.
“The sentences this crime group received shows that crime doesn’t pay, and that we will stop at nothing to put those intent on flooding our streets with drugs and violence behind bars.

“I’ve no doubt that the streets of Merseyside and beyond will be much safer with this group behind bars, no longer presenting a threat to our communities.

“This has been an extremely long and complex investigation and I would like to thank my officers and staff, as well as our law enforcement partners, who have helped us secure the right result.”

Lorna Vincent, Specialist Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service said:

“The messages recovered from Encrochat exposed the inner workings of an organised crime group, who mistakenly believed they could operate out of reach of law enforcement.

“The CPS worked closely with the National Crime Agency and North West Regional Organised Crime Unit on this complex case, building a strong prosecution against Jarvis who played a significant role in this large-scale drug supply operation.

“The final sentence handed down today reflects the gravity of these crimes and sends a clear message that those who engage in serious organised crime will face severe consequences.

“We will now be pursuing confiscation proceedings to recover the proceeds of the gang’s criminal activity.”

Merseyside Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Chris Green said:

"The sentencing of these nine people is the culmination of a thorough and extensive investigation carried out by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, together with Merseyside Police and the National Crime Agency, and shows that together we are committed to making our communities safer through the dismantling of serious organised crime groups.

"Undoubtedly Coggins and his cohorts were the orchestrators of a large scale drug supply network and thought they were beyond reproach.

"As a result of Operation Venetic we have had the ability to cripple organised crime groups who are bringing misery to our streets. In Merseyside alone Operation Venetic has led to the arrest of 233 people, 195 of whom have been charged. We have seen 166 of those charged sentenced to 2,107 years in prison and we have recovered four firearms; £2.3m in cash; 100kgs of cocaine; 24kg heroin and 15kg of cannabis.

"This proves that no-one is untouchable and if you are involved in large scale drug supply and dealing in Merseyside you can expect a knock on your door.

"Operation Subzero has had a significant impact on the drug supply network in the region and the conviction of these individuals is testimony to the officers who carried out this extensive and professional investigation.

Wayne Johns, the NCA's Operation Venetic Senior Investigating Officer said:

“Some of these offenders, including Vincent Coggins, fought tooth and nail to challenge the legality of the case against them before eventually admitting their guilt.

“The NCA and Crown Prosecution Service worked with NWROCU to robustly defend the challenge and we now see the OCG members behind bars for very significant periods.

“Operation Venetic has been the UK’s deepest ever penetration of organised crime groups, which cause so much damage to our society.

“So far, more than 1,600 offenders have been convicted and there are many more suspects in the legal and judicial systems.

“In total, more than 3,300 arrests have been made and more than 2,000 suspects charged in the UK.

“Over 10,700 years of sentences have been given to offenders.

“Drugs seizures include nearly six-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine, more than three tonnes of heroin and over twenty tonnes of cannabis.

“One-hundred-and-seventy-three firearms have been taken off UK streets, along with almost 3,500 rounds of ammunition and more than £84m has been seized from organised crime groups. Over 200 threats to life were averted.

“These figures represent the collective efforts of the NCA, UK police forces, Regional Organised Crime Units, Border Force, HM Revenue and Customs and crucially the CPS.”