Three jailed for 'flooding' streets with drugs

Alan Entwistle was handed the longest sentence of 10 years and six months in jail

Three members of a Greater Manchester gang responsible for "flooding" communities in the area with millions of pounds of drugs have been jailed.

The Wythenshawe-based group was behind a "sophisticated criminal enterprise" which supplied cocaine, heroin and amphetamines across the city, Greater Manchester Police said.

Bolton Crown Court heard the recovered heroin had a street value of more than £1.1m.

Alan Entwistle, 48, and Stephen Findley, 64, each admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and amphetamine and were jailed for 10 years and six months and four years and four months respectively. William Reilly, 40, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and was jailed for five years.

Findley was arrested after police searched his house in July last year and found what turned out to be around 4kg of drugs inside a drawstring backpack.

Large quantities of drugs were found in Entwistle's garage

Later that month, a search of Entwistle's garage uncovered large quantities of drugs, drug adulterants like caffeine and paracetamol, and digital scales.

Police said Entwistle, of Kennett Road, managed safe houses for the gang, prepared drugs for sale and distributed them to other drug dealers.

They said Findley, of Carloon Road, managed the group's warehouse and Reilly, of Altcar Walk, was a street dealer for the organisation.

Det Sgt Richard McCorry said: "This was a sophisticated criminal operation that was flooding our communities with Class A and Class B drugs on a large scale."