Tenth man guilty of 'truly massive' cocaine plot
Carlisle Crown Court heard the scope of the conspiracy was countrywide
- Published
A man has been found guilty of taking part in a cocaine supply plot which saw up up to £53m-worth of drugs trafficked across the UK.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how the case was blown apart when detectives discovered drugs being transported into Cumbria in 1kg shipments.
Scott Owen, 33, of Salisbury Way, Tyldesley, near Wigan, denied conspiring to supply the class A drug, but was found guilty on Thursday.
Nine men, including Reece Barnes of Elim Grove, Bowness-on-Windermere, had previously admitted their involvement.
Police initially arrested three of the gang, including Barnes, 31, who was found to have kept the cocaine in a lock-up near his home.
Mobile phone data and other evidence revealed the scope of the conspiracy was UK-wide, with cocaine sourced abroad before being transported by couriers to a host of towns and cities across the country.
More than 300kg of the drug — potentially worth between £35m and £53m — is estimated to have been shipped.
'Damning' evidence
“The quantities of drugs in the overall conspiracy in this case are truly massive,” prosecutor Tim Evans told the court.
“The scope of the overall conspiracy is countrywide. It features Blackpool and the Fylde coast, it features Yorkshire, various places in the Midlands, South Wales and various parts of England, Wales and Scotland.”
Mr Evans described “damning” phone evidence which showed Owen had repeatedly been in direct contact with his co-conspirators as arrangements were made to transport cocaine into Cumbria.
That supply was “facilitated and organised” by Owen and another plotter, said the prosecutor, but was intercepted on 4 February last year by police.
Nine men aged between 32 and 62 admitted conspiring to supply the class A controlled drug between 1 March 2022 and 25 May last yea.
Owen was found guilty following a trial lasting more than a week and remanded in custody.
A two-day sentencing hearing for all the men is due to start on 11 March.
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