Greater Manchester men jailed over £61m drugs conspiracy

Ashley Dissington (left) and Connor Jackson-Westwood were jailed for their part in a £61m drugs ring

Two men have been jailed for their part in a £61m drugs ring after a package from Belgium was intercepted on its way to Greater Manchester.

Ashley Dissington, 35, and Connor Jackson-Westwood, 25, were arrested after police set up a sting operation.

They admitted being knowingly concerned in the importation of heroin and cocaine at Minshull Street Crown Court.

Dissington, of Middleton, was jailed for 20 years and Jackson-Westwood, of Royton, was sentenced to 15 years.

Greater Manchester Police said a package from Belgium was intercepted by the UK Border Force on 1 October last year.

The package was found to contain a total of two-and-a-half stone (15kg) of Class A drugs with an estimated street value of around £1.5m, the force said.

Detectives let the package continue to its intended destination at Wheatfield Industrial Estate in Oldham, with the contents removed and a decoy put in place of the drugs.

The heroin and cocaine package was intercepted on its way to Greater Manchester

On 6 October, Dissington arrived in his car, parking on a nearby street, with Jackson-Westwood arriving on foot shortly after.

Jackson-Westwood collected the parcel before leaving the industrial estate and walking in the opposite direction of the parked car.

Dissington then drove away and picked up Jackson-Westwood where they opened the parcel before being arrested by police.

Police identified a further 16 deliveries consisting of 40 packages all being delivered from the same Belgium mail drop location to the Oldham industrial estate's storage unit within a three-month period from June to October 2020.

They said the packages contained a total of 91 stone (578.5kg) of drugs.

Judge John Potter described the drug ring's importation to have been "on an industrial scale"

Judge John Potter said it was likely that each contained a similar amount, type and purity of drugs and would be worth a wholesale value of upto £19.5m, with a street value of upto £61.5m.

He described the importation of drugs to have been "on an industrial scale".

Jackson-Westwood and Dissington also admitted possession of a blade in a public place, while Dissington also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

Dissington's sentence includes separate drug and money laundering offences after police discovered he had been using the encrypted phone network EncroChat

He was found to be involved in dealings of Class A drugs with a potential maximum street value of £725,000 and was responsible for the collection, storing and passing of money in excess of £100,000.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]