UK-wide cocaine conspiracy stopped as gang jailed

A multimillion-pound cocaine operation has been dismantled by police after two men were caught with 50kg of the drug in Staffordshire.

Police discovered the cocaine, with an estimated street value of between £6m and £7m, when they stopped James Garlick, 30, and Shane Wintle, 32, in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The pair used couriers to distribute the drug throughout the UK and co-ordinated the supply of more than 350kg of cocaine between 20 May and 19 June last year, Staffordshire Police said.

Seven men admitted conspiring to supply the drug and were jailed for between eight and nine years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Monday.

The men were all arrested on 15 October last year, after the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) stopped Garlick and Wintle.

The men used encrypted communication apps on their phones to co-ordinate the supply of the cocaine.

Supt Victoria Downing, of Staffordshire Police major and organised crime unit, said: "This group worked together to operate a multi-million-pound crime business across the UK and have been rightfully brought to justice for their actions.

"Serious and organised crime on this scale often involves the exploitation of vulnerable people, where career criminals prey on vulnerability and addiction to line their own pockets."

The defendants:

• James Garlick, 30, and Shane Wintle, 32, both of HMP Dovegate, were jailed for nine-years-and-seven-months

• Andrew Rushton, 46, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was given seven-years-and-eight-months

• Harry Upton, 30, of Buxton, Derbyshire, was sentenced to nine years in prison

• Sam Upton, 28, of Full Sutton, York, was jailed for eight-years-and-two months

• Julian Buggs, 57, of no fixed address, was jailed for nine-years-and-nine months

• David Rowley, 60, of Church Lawton, Cheshire was jailed for eight-years-and-three-months

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