Crime boss paid daughter's school fees in cash

Police said Bell ran the drug operation "like a CEO"

A crime boss who paid his daughter's private school fees with envelopes of cash has been jailed for running a UK-wide drug operation.

Gregory Bell, 43, generated vast profits as a wholesale supplier of Class A drugs to other gangs before police accessed his encrypted smartphone and uncovered his operation.

Investigations revealed he owned 34 properties, mostly in east Manchester, together with two villas in Spain and lived in a prestigious rented, £2,200 per month, apartment in the upmarket Cheshire village of Prestbury.

Bell was given a sentence of 18 years and nine months at Manchester Crown Court earlier for his role directing the sale and supply of Class A and B controlled drugs.

Det Insp Richard Castley of Greater Manchester Police said: "Gregory Bell was not just a drug dealer, he was the head of a criminal enterprise that reached into every corner of the UK."

"This was a man who profited from the misery that drug dealing and using has on our communities, not just in Manchester but the entire country."

The court heard Bell "operated like a CEO", and used encrypted phones, fake identities, and a network of couriers and safe houses to move vast quantities of drugs and launder millions of pounds.

Police found drugs belonging to the gang in a stash house

Bell educated his daughter at a private school and always paid her fees by leaving an envelope of cash with the school receptionist, the court heard.

While an array of designer clothing valued at more than £70,000 was among lavish and expensive items found when police searched his home address.

Prosecutor David Temkin KC said: "The police also discovered that Bell had a serious and long-standing addiction to gambling, spending tens of thousands of pounds at various casinos.

"By way of example, police investigations show that Bell had staked some £1.5 million at Ladbrokes with some £1.3 million in returns, and he had staked some £696,000 at Betfred with some £527,000 in returns."

'Highly sophisticated'

Evidence showed the scale of Bell's enterprise, with deals involving multi kilos of cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamine and cannabis on a daily basis.

He was the leader of what Mr Temkin described as a "highly sophisticated" organised crime group, the court heard.

Cocaine was regularly sold at prices between £37,000 to £43,500 per kilo, with cannabis sold between £4,000 to £4,600 per kilo.

Bell was also found to be using two "safe houses" in Moss Lane, Alderley Edge, and Coniston Drive, Bury, to store the drugs which couriers would collect and then deliver in vehicles with secret compartments for the concealment of their unlawful cargo, the court was told.

Police were able to view, save and analyse messages from Bell's encrypted Encrophone, after French and Dutch law enforcement agencies worked out in early 2020 how to access material on the devices which had been thought to be a foolproof method of communication for criminals.

Bell, whose Encrochat handles were Castlesnail, Radiorhino and Wonkyfrog, was referred to in messages as "boss" and "gaffer".

More than 70 names of drug suppliers and customers spanning the UK were found in his phone contact list, the court also heard.

Bell, of Scottmount, Prestbury, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to money laundering and conspiracy to supply cocaine, diamorphine, ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis.

Bell's close associate, Ian Ogden, 46, of Helmshore Road, Haslingden, was jailed for 16 years and eight months, after he admitted the same offences as his boss.

A third defendant, Paul Brown, 51, of Leicester Road, Failsworth, described as a "major customer" of Bell, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis.

In July five other members of the gang received jail sentences.