The face of a 70-kilogram cocaine ring that plans to ship drugs in food containers

An organized crime group planned to supply millions of pounds worth of cocaine to the valleys of south Wales and parts of England after some of its members fell into huge debts. Nine men, including officials and a “great family man”, were part of a group that conspired to deliver 70 kilos of cocaine, with couriers and an “accountant” working under the direction of the two masterminds.

In the plot, the men communicated via encrypted phone messages using “Fire Starter Boss”, “Mobile Gold” and “Jaguar Master”, while planning individual deliveries of up to five kilos of cocaine. Some of these deliveries were made by gang members carrying large amounts of Class A drugs in a backpack, while grocery bags were also offered to carry drugs and cash.

The group was caught after the EncroChat communication network they used to send their encrypted messages was hacked by French police in 2020. A new police investigation into the encrypted communications, Operation Draco, was launched and the men were arrested after being discovered involved in a conspiracy to supply cocaine between January 1 and August 19, 2020.

READ MORE: A son stabs his own mother after being told to stop eating raw meat

The conspirators split into two camps: one camp was headed by 40-year-old Mark Jenkins and the other by 38-year-old Mark Davies, 38. Jenkins’ leadership was led by his 46-year-old right-hand man. old Robert Butler. and below him were the group’s “bookkeeper”, Nicholas Kirkham-Jones, 31, and two bellboys, Andrew Pitman, 39, and Tommy Lee Lewis, 25.

Two other men, Garian Ahearn, 31, and Danny Tomlin, 36, also worked with Jenkins, who sold drugs and returned money to the group. On the other side of the conspiracy, Davis employed only one person, 33-year-old Christopher Matthews. Get the latest news from the Welsh courts straight to your inbox by signing up for our free Crime and Punishment newsletter.

Nine men were convicted of their various roles in the conspiracy at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday 6th April after all pleaded guilty. Ahern was also convicted of three other crimes, as well as possession of marijuana, conspiracy to supply marijuana and involvement in supplying cocaine.

The court heard that Jenkins and Davies ran the operation together and raised their own money to get the “cheapest good quality cocaine” they could find. The gang supplied cocaine through parts of south Wales, mainly the East Dales, as well as parts of south west England, including Bristol and Gloucestershire.

Jenkins, Christchurch Street, Oakdale, he took a prominent role in the plot: messages taken from his encrypted phone show that he was involved between March 27 and May 18, 2020, although there was no evidence that his involvement continued beyond that point. A crack user himself, he delivered the samples in a backpack, although reports found indicated that larger shipments, of three to five kilos, were planned, but never materialized.

Until Davis, of Central Avenue, Oakdale, led the other side of the plot, but in mitigation was heard to have played an “obviously minor role” than the others, only having contact with the five Encrochat phones and getting involved after the plot started and left until its conclusion.

Roger Griffiths, the prosecutor, explained that of Jenkins’ part in the conspiracy: Regent of Attlee Court, Caerphilly he was second-in-command and referred to Jenkins as “the boss”. Working directly with him, she came up with ideas on how best to conduct operations during a pandemic outbreak and suggested hiding money and medicine in food packaging, including Kipling boxes. Butler was “proud of her skills” and said in one of the messages found: “This is really organized crime”.

On the other hand, working directly under Davies, was Matthews, of Henry Street, Bargod. Using an Encrochat-encrypted phone, he used the identifier “Mobile Gold” and received large amounts of cocaine from Davis, which he later sold to his clients. The court heard how he made “huge profits” from it, which were later paid through his boss.

Railroad Terrace Pitman, Blaine It is Lewis, of Holme Lacey Road, Hereford, both worked as couriers for Jenkins’ side of the conspiracy, recruited by Butler and working directly with him, collecting cocaine and doing “day jobs” for his side of the group. Although both benefited to a limited extent financially from involvement in the gang, the unemployed Pitman, recruited by Butler, a friend, was given small amounts of cocaine because he was also a “heavy user” of Class A drugs.

Lewis, the youngest of the gang, was just 22 years old when he committed the crime, which was limited to an incident in April 2020, when he delivered two kilos of cocaine. He became involved in the conspiracy after becoming “hopelessly addicted” to Class A drugs and running up a drug debt that he had tried to pay off by stealing expensive cameras from his employer, for which he received a suspended sentence.

He was also part of the group. Kirkham-Jones, Lon Gwenant, Pontrydirun, Cumbran. Recruited by Jenkins, with whom he worked, he played the role of “accountant” for the gang, where he received, counted, sorted and distributed around £170,000. . time he counted and sorted the amount of money and received no more than £1,000 in total during his involvement, which lasted from late March until 11 May. 2020 year.

During the arrest, police searched Kirkham-Jones’ home address and found an encrypted cell phone and money counting machine. During police questioning, he told officers, “They dragged me by the head.”

Ahearne, Hillside Avenue, Markham, he provided the lot with drug outlets, with shipments of 125g of cocaine selling for around £6,000 each and the money returned to the group. As a drug dealer, he was arrested in May 2020 and was in possession of a quantity of marijuana, in addition to a telephone containing messages about growing and supplying marijuana and supplying cocaine. Nonetheless, Tomlin, of Valley Road, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershirehe also obtained cocaine from Jenkins and employed his own couriers to distribute around 10 pounds of the drug to his own customer base in south Wales using the EncroChat identifiers ‘Fire Starter Boss’ and ‘Jaguar Master’.

In mitigation for the nine defendants, the court heard that, in addition to Lewis, Jenkins and Butler also participated in the conspiracy to clear the debts, but now deeply regret their decisions. As most of the men have been in custody since 2020, some have suffered personal loss, with Pitman’s mother and Butler’s child’s mother passing away at the time.

Early on, Jenkins was in the business of supplying cannabis and incurred significant debts to third parties. When he was a cocaine user, he was “pushed” to provide cocaine to pay back the money. However, despite his leading role in the plot, he made a payment to another supplier to take the business out of his hands and admitted he was “relieved” when he was arrested and told the court he was “deeply ashamed”. about his participation.

Butler also had financial problems with another drug dealer and was involved in a conspiracy to settle a debt. However, after paying off that debt, he began to withdraw from the group and became unavailable, refusing to call Jenkins. The court also heard that Kirkham-Jones was a “truly wonderful family man, father and uncle” of “exemplary character” whom his colleagues at James Brown Industries in Cumbran spoke of “in glowing terms”.

Handing down sentence, Judge David Wynn Morgan said, “Every defendant went into this with their eyes wide open. Those closest to the top of the conspiracy were careful to avoid exposure. This is one of the most serious crimes. [and] it’s bad business. The introduction of Class A drugs into society degrades that society and spoils life. Not only the lives of those who use drugs, but also those who live with them. This has serious consequences.”

Jenkins was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while his deputy, Butler, received 10 years in prison. On the other side of the conspiracy, Davis received 11 years in prison, while Matthews received six and a half years.

Kirkham-Jones was jailed for five years, while messengers Tomlin and Pitman received eight and five years respectively. Lewis was jailed for five years and six months, while Ahern was jailed for six years for conspiracy, plus 12 months for conspiracy to supply marijuana and 18 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine. These sentences will be accomplices, but consecutive to the one imposed on him for participating in an organized crime group, that is, he received a total sentence of seven years and six months in prison.

Source: Wales Online