Semi-pro footballers jailed for £260m drug plot

Cocaine was recovered from storage units in west London

Six semi-professional footballers who formed a drugs gang to supply cocaine have been jailed.

The men, from London and Solihull, admitted conspiracy to supply controlled Class A and Class B drugs.

Cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to £260m, was seized from storage units in west London, along with a substantial amount of ketamine.

Met Police detectives described the group as operating on "an industrial level".

Ketamine, a controlled Class B drug, was also seized by police

The six men who were part of the gang are:

• Adam Pepara, 35, of Wharf Lane, Solihull, who was jailed for 24 years

• Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, from North Kensington, who was jailed for 18 years and nine months

• Jamarl Joseph, 28, from Wembley, who was jailed for 17 years and six months

• Andrew Harewood, 34, from North Acton, who was jailed for 16 years and one month

• Melchi Emanuel-Williamson, 29, from North Acton, who was jailed for 14 years

• Luke Skeete, 36, from West Drayton, who was jailed for 13 years and one month

Adam Pepara, 35, of Wharf Lane, Solihull, who was jailed for 24 years

Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, from North Kensington, was jailed for 18 years and nine months

Jamarl Joseph, 28, from Wembley, was jailed for 17 years and six months

Isleworth Crown Court heard that Skeete had previously been jailed for 15 years in July 2023 for similar drug offences.

During the course of that investigation, his phone was seized and detectives found messages that led to his accomplices.

CCTV captured the gang coming and going from a storage unit with drugs hidden in holdalls and boxes.

Between 10 April 2022 and 20 October 2022, they had all conspired to supply more than 2.7 tonnes of high grade cocaine, the court was told.

Melchi Emanuel-Williamson, 29, from North Acton, was jailed for 14 years

Andrew Harewood, 34, from North Acton, was jailed for 16 years and one month

Luke Skeete, 36, from West Drayton, was jailed for 13 years and one month

The Metropolitan Police said: "The operation we’ve dismantled here is not some minor undertaking, involving a group of chancers – this is a highly organised criminal group who were supplying drugs on an industrial scale throughout the UK.

“This is a criminal group who had otherwise promising careers – semi-pro footballers with other jobs and courses they were undertaking – but they were motivated by making money from drugs that fuel misery and violence on our streets.

“Anyone else wondering if they can make cash from this type of activity should take a look at these sentences and think again, because it’s only a matter of time before you are caught.”