Cocaine and heroin smuggler who fled to Portugal jailed

Stephen Earle trafficked large amounts of the drugs into England

A drugs trafficker who went on the run in Portugal for four years has been jailed after he was tracked down and extradited back to the UK.

Stephen Earle, from Huyton in Merseyside, travelled to the country in July 2020 in a bid to evade authorities.

The 52-year-old had worked closely with his cousin Terence Earle to import large amounts of cocaine and heroin and move them between Merseyside and Motherwell in Scotland, the National Crime Agency said.

But he was eventually caught and arrested in the city of Faro in January and extradited on 18 March following a major police operation called Operation Venetic.

Stephen Earle (left) and his cousin Terence Earle, pictured in St Helens, Merseyside

At Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, Earle was sentenced to 11 years and four months after pleading guilty to four charges of supplying Class A drugs.

The pair were part of a gang that police infiltrated after hacking into their encrypted Encrochat messaging network, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

They went under the names ThickBoar and Octo-hand, and discussed prices for buying and selling the drugs as well as the logistics of trafficking.

NCA branch commander Jon Sayers said: "This lethal trade is closely linked to exploitation and violence, so bringing this gang to justice has helped protect the public."

Terence Earle, 50, was jailed for 16-and-a-half years in April last year.

He appeared for sentencing alongside fellow gang members Stanley Feerick, 70, Stephen King, 50, Lee Baxter, 50 and Stephen Singleton, 38.