Members of a gang who imported millions of pounds of drugs from mainland Europe to cut and then sell on from their Darwen headquarters were caught after police cracked their mobile phones and uncovered CCTV.
CCTV footage from inside the group’s operating base in Hollins Grove Mill showed gang members putting on forensic suits to weigh out and cut in excess of 200 kilos of amphetamine with mixing agents to be sold all over the North and South of England.
The cameras also captured huge quantities of cannabis in black bin liners being dropped off at the unit in Hollins Grove Mill, Darwen, to be packaged and sold on via a network of the gang’s street dealers.
The investigation, which falls under Operation Warrior – started in 2021 after police attributed encrypted mobile phones to Zac Deaffern and co-defendant John Rowe.
READ MORE: Darwen drugs gang leaders sentenced to more than 20 years
In March 2021 Deaffern’s home in Turncroft Road, Darwen, was searched and officers found £4,000 cash, mobile phones, notebooks detailing massive sums of money and prices amphetamine, and a gun, with tests proving this was a viable firearm.
Within the notebooks were details which led police to an address in Ivinson Road, Darwen. In May 2020 German authorities had intercepted a package containing six kilos bound for that address.
A further notebook linked Deaffern to the unit in Hollins Grove Mill.
At the same time Deaffern’s property was being searched, a warrant was executed at the home of Stone in Hawshaw Heights, Darwen. Recovered from his bedroom was a safe that contained £15,000 in cash, cocaine, bags and scales. Police also found a further mobile phone and CS Gas and recovered cannabis from his van.
When officers searched the unit at Hollins Grove Mill they found more than 100 kilos of a mixing agent and a bottles of a liquid used to cut amphetamine, as well as a mixing agent used to cut heroin. They also found 10 kilos of amphetamine in a bucket and vacuum packs with the remnants of cannabis still inside.
Enquiries found that defendant Sean Bradshaw was the person responsible for purchasing the mixing agents used to cut the amphetamine.
CCTV which went back to the beginning of February 2021, showed a mass of drug dealing scaling from drugs being manufactured to drugs being bagged up into enormous quantities, as well as shipments of kilos of cannabis bush leaving the unit to be dispatched across the country.
Defendant Ashley Morris was captured on February 25 arriving with Deaffern. Both men and Stone put on protective clothing and masks and then then proceed to mix drugs with cutting agent for five hours.
Forensic analysis of the unit identified Deon Houghton’s fingerprints being present on a large black tub that contained ten kilos of amphetamine. When Houghton was arrested police found a bin liner containing cannabis in his garage. Houghton pleaded guilty to cannabis supply charges.
Defendant Philip Alderson controlled logistics for the gang. On February 26 he is caught on CCTV loading a number of bags of white powder into a car, with the consignment being taken to Manchester.
On March 6, 2021, Stone places a number of large bags of white powder into a sports bag and heads towards Caddishead to meet the defendant John Cropper. Once Stone had completed that transaction he continued his journey to supply defendant Taylor Walker.
Walker was arrested at his home address with mobile phones, a baton and cash recovered.
When Cropper was arrested messages were recovered from his phone where he was discussing mass figures of money and weights of amphetamine that he had been supplying with others.
On March 7, Stone places 40 bags of white powder, each containing two kilos of amphetamine, into boxes. The following day Alderson places the boxes into his van and transported them to a contact in Durham.
On March 10, a Romanian national was stopped at Dover entering the UK in a Mercedes sprinter van containing furniture collected from Milan and destined for a unit in Darwen. Hidden within the furniture was cannabis valued between £250,000 and £500,000.
The unit was linked to Deaffern and Stone. The driver later gave a second intended delivery address which was linked to defendant Phil Peters. Police searched the unit and found £25,000 in envelopes.
Peters’ home was searched and officers found £8,000 cash, a cash counting machine, vacuum packing machine and items linked to drug supply and mass production of cocaine.
One of his mobile phones had messages relating to the supply of drugs from a Cypriot contact, the defendant Dexter Ryan.
On March 11, Alderson travelled to Bristol to purchase a tipper truck. He returned to Darwen the following day with eight bin bags full of cannabis bush. Stone took images of the cannabis once it had been unloaded and sent them to defendant Andrew Berry. Alderson later delivered cannabis to Berry.
While Alderson is making that journey CCTV footage shows Stone and Deaffern shaking hands on an agreement to sell the remainder of the cannabis.
Berry was arrested on May 6, 2021, with £3,000 cash.
Defendant Nicholas Wilson was captured numerous times on CCTV collecting large amounts of cannabis in bulk vacuum bags.
Defendant Anthony Richardson was also captured on CCTV numerous times and could be seen viewing the safe, where the mass amount of drugs were stored.
Examination of Stone’s mobile phone linked him to a property in Manor Street, Accrington, owned by defendant Richard Panter. The defendant, Pajtim Shehu, was detained trying to flee the property when police attended and a large cannabis farm was found.
Further enquiries linked Stone and Panter to a property in Harwood Street, Accrington, and when officers arrived defendant Lee Booth fled but was identified via his van which he left parked outside. A cannabis farm was found upstairs. Both Panter and Booth were later arrested.
James Moran was a cannabis supplier for the gang, with text messages showing he dealt large amounts of the drug on behalf of Stone.
Defendant Joanne Smith, Stones’ partner, would often film mass amounts of cannabis and weigh out amounts for her boyfriend’s dealers. Users would also be sent to Smith to pay their debts.
Defendant Joshua Main dealt both cannabis and cocaine on behalf of the gang. On March 3 a research warrant was executed at an address in London and Main’s fingerprints were recovered from a carrier bag containing two kilos of high purity cocaine.
Defendant Jake McCosh was an associate of Main who connected to the cocaine supply faction of the gang.
Defendant Nicholas Mullin was heavily involved in the supply of amphetamine and cannabis and fled the country when he realised the gang was being dismantled. He was later arrested in Belgium and brought back to the UK.
Police still want to speak to Mark Redshaw, 38, who has links to Darwen, Liverpool, the Salford area of Manchester and Cheshire., as part of their ongoing enquiries.
Yesterday, Stone, Deaffern, Ryan, Rowe, Alderson and Main were jailed for a combined total of 36 and a half years.
DS Stu Peall, from East Division, said: “This was a complex investigation into a serious criminal gang who imported drugs on a massive scale to cut at their Darwen headquarters and then sell on elsewhere for huge profits. Such was the scale and of the operation, they did not seem overly concerned when shipments were confiscated. They simply ordered more.
“Even though there was a clear structure to the organisation – with each member playing their own key role, all were prepared to get their hands dirty. That was demonstrated by the heads of the gang, Deaffern and Stone, putting on forensic suits and then spending hours on end preparing and cutting drugs.
“I hope the dismantling of this organisation and the sentences handed down by the Judge so far sends out a clear message to those who seek to commit crime in East Lancashire. No matter how sophisticated and protected you think your criminal enterprise is, we will find it, we will dismantle it and we will put you before the courts.”
Defendants previously sentenced:
- Pajtim Shehu, 41, of no fixed address, is charged with producing cannabis. Jailed for 16 months.
- Phillip Peters, 41, of Edward Tyler Road, London, is charged with conspiring to supply and import cannabis. Jailed for 30 months.
- James Moran, 33, of Holden Fold, Darwen, is charged with conspiring to supply cannabis. Jailed for 16 months.
- Andrew Berry, 30, of Hadrian’s Camp, Carlisle, is charged with supplying cannabis. Jailed for two years.
- Nicholas Wilson, 41, of Wood Street, Lytham is charged with conspiring to supply cannabis. Jailed for 40 months.
- Sean Bradshaw, 55, of Leven Grove, Darwen, is charged with conspiring to supply amphetamine and received 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
- Richard Panter, 35, of Longsight Road, Ramsbottom, is charged with permitting the production of cannabis and received 9 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
- Lee Booth, 35, of Holcombe Road, Greenmount, is charged with producing cannabis and received a community order.
- Daniel Pimley, 35, of Andrew Close, Blackburn is charged with conspiring to import cannabis and received a community order.
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