Five men jailed for cocaine and criminal cash plot

Police caught the men as part of a crackdown on drugs being imported via the ferry

Five men involved in a plot to import cocaine to the Isle of Man on the ferry and transport criminal cash back to the UK have been jailed.

It comes after police seized two packages of the drug, with a street value of between £55,920 and £111,840, and about £15,000 in Manx bank notes last year.

Douglas Courthouse heard plain clothes officers had arrested three of the men after two carrier bags were exchanged in a vehicle in a hotel car park on 18 May 2024.

Liam Bradley, who the court heard was one of the main organisers of the operation on the island, was jailed for nine years and four months, while Manchester-based Robin Leigh was jailed for eight years and seven months.

The court heard CCTV had shown Bradley outside Douglas Snooker Club handing a green and white carrier bag containing £13,090 to Ryan White, prior to the ferry's arrival at 13:30 BST.

About an hour after that exchange, police observed Bradley, 32, talking on the phone while driving a black Audi in the direction of the Sea Terminal shortly after the ferry arrived in Douglas.

Foot passengers John O'Neill and Wesley Maddix, who the court heard had not met before arriving, were also seen walking away from the port along Douglas Promenade.

The pair got into a silver car parked on Central Promenade, which had White in the passenger seat, which then travelled a short distance to the car park of the Palace Hotel.

The court heard, given the long distance the men had walked to reach the car and the short distance they were carried before getting out, police suspected an exchange had taken place and blocked the vehicle as it attempted to leave the car park.

Officers found two packages wrapped in tape containing the drugs within another green and white carrier bag under the passenger seat.

O'Neill and Maddix were caught with the cash previously handed to White by Bradley, as well as an additional £1,000 in cash each.

The five men were sentenced at Douglas Courthouse on Wednesday

The court heard phone downloads had shown communications with two other men based in Manchester, including 51-year-old Robin Leigh, prior to the trip and around the time of the ferry's arrival.

The records also revealed O'Neill had made multiple trips to the island in the past, which prosecutors said showed he was a "trusted courier" of drugs to the island.

The court heard only White had accepted involvement with both of the packages containing the drugs.

Bradley, of Lheannag Park in Douglas, was jailed for nine years and four months after pleading guilty to importing cocaine to the island and the transfer of criminal cash.

Leigh, of Grosvenor Street in Radcliffe, admitted being concerned in importing cocaine to the island and was sentenced to eight years and seven months.

White, of Murrays Road in Douglas, was jailed for seven years and eight months after admitting being involved in importing cocaine to the island, possession of the drug with intent to supply, transferring criminal cash, and acquiring criminal cash.

O'Neill, of Victoria Avenue in Manchester, was jailed for six years and five months for importing cocaine, supplying the drug and possessing criminal cash.

Maddix, also from Manchester, was jailed for five months after admitting possession of criminal property.

Together with O'Neill and Leigh, he was also handed an exclusion order banning him from returning to the island for five years after release.