Officers bugged John Roe’s car and secretly filmed him as he visited his stashes of drugs

John Roe two members of group admitted their role in the drugs plot yesterday, detectives revealed how they spent 10 months gathering evidence, secretly filming Roe as he visited some of his drug stashes in west Cumbria.Police eventually seized cocaine worth £200,000 during the investigation.The gang involved included one man who was previously sentenced to death in Thailand for drug running.Some were key players in the dangerous international drugs trade, with links to drug-related violence.The last two of nine conspirators yesterday admitted their part in the plan to peddle cannabis and cocaine.Most are now likely to face lengthy jail terms when they are sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court next month.Detective Inspector Jason Hudson, of Cumbria police’s serious and organised crime unit, said: “When our investigation commenced this group was recognised as the number one threat to the people of Cumbria.“It was on that basis that they were targeted by the serious and organised crime unit. The impact of these convictions can’t be underestimated as this group undoubtedly planned to bring crack cocaine in significant quantities into Cumbria.“If they had managed to start bringing cocaine into the county, it would have led to acquisitive crime and all the associated problems.“These prosecutions contribute significantly to making Cumbria a safer place.”The investigation – codenamed Operation Ash – was one of the largest of its kind ever conducted by Cumbria Police and involved more than 100 officers from five counties during the arrest phase. Police say some defendants were from the high echelons of the drug trafficking world, with national and international connections.Details emerged yesterday of how Cumbrian police targeted the nine-strong gang, which also had links with Bradford in West Yorkshire.Officers bugged Roe’s car and secretly filmed him as he visited his stashes of drugs in areas of west Cumbria.
Roe, of Inner Ling Road, Seaton, Workington, admitted three charges of conspiring to supply cannabis and one each of conspiring to supply cocaine and amphetamines.
It was while he was serving an earlier eight-and-a-half year jail sentence for conspiring to supply cocaine worth £500,000 from south America that he forged strong links with one accomplice. Links which he built upon once he was released.Much of the prosecution case was built around the surveillance of Roe, in some cases as he visited hidden stashes of cannabis and amphetamine in areas of west Cumbria.
He organised a major drugs pick-up in London when he and another gang member collected imported cocaine and cannabis worth £29,000.
Police secretly recorded his phone calls during the drives to and from London.
The surveillance gave detectives key evidence against the gang’s importer, Gino Obiekezie, a 34-year-old London man with a Nigerian passport, who has admitted two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs and one of importing cocaine.
At Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, Whitehaven man Richard Arthur Daniels, 38, of Patterdale Avenue, admitted a single count of conspiring to supply cocaine on dates in May of last year.Crown prosecutor Tim Evans said he would not be seeking to pursue an allegation that Daniels, involved in drug distribution, conspired to supply Ecstasy.
He previously served a 12-year jail sentence for conspiring with Roe to import cocaine from south America.Paul Jones, 39, of Blennerhasset, admitted one charge of conspiring to supply cannabis with others between June and October last year.The lowest ranking in the gang’s pecking order, he was granted bail until he and other gang members are sentenced on October 20 after background reports are prepared. All the other defendants are remanded in custody.Other members of the gang entered guilty pleas at earlier court hearings to their part in the conspiracy.They were: Dean Martin, 30, and Anthony Davies, both from Bradford, and Jermaine Thompson, 21, of Wetheriggs Road, Salterbeck, who has admitted conspiring to supply Class A drugs; David Hodgson, 21, of Lowca Lane, Seaton, admitted two charges of conspiracy to supply cocaine, a class A drug, and one each of conspiracy to supply a class C drug, cannabis, and a class B drug, amphetamines; Brian Mounsey, 50, of Eaglescliffe in Stockton-on-Tees, admitted one charge of conspiracy to supply cocaine.Mounsey was the man who was sentenced to death in Thailand, with the sentence later reduced to 40 years in jail. Judge Peter Hughes QC said that charges against Gemma Grant, 27, of Inner Ling Road, Seaton, should lay on file.