Members of a 'Billy Whizz' drugs gang with links to Dubai, India and Iran who netted profits of more than £1million have been ordered to pay back their ill-gotten gains.
An organised crime group, led by Ricardo Hughes, moved hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of amphetamine branded with pictures of the Beano comic character. Investigations into the ring also brought down Andrew Lenehan, who a court heard boasted connections across the globe.
Gang members were previously jailed for a combined total of more than 40 years. They were hauled back before court last week for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Liverpool Crown Court was told of the substantial sums conspirators banked as a result of their involvement. Lenehan, of Scarisbrick Road in Walton, gained the highest sum, with an overall benefit figure of £745,511.15, reports The Echo.
After examination of his accounts and property, the court ruled his available assets to be £30,828.29. This amount must now be repaid within three months, or the 58-year-old will face an additional nine months in prison, ordered a judge.
Meanwhile David Hunter, who played a "leading" role in the OCG, pocketed a £166,447.47. However the 49-year-old - of Larch Close in Billinge, St Helens - was not found to have any recoverable assets and Judge Brian Cummings KC imposed a nominal sum of £1, which was deemed to have been paid by the court.
He was also subjected to a serious crime prevention order on Thursday, to last for five years following his release from prison. "Trusted lieutenant" Christopher Dooley, appearing on video from HMP Berwyn in North Wales, gained a sum of £256,213.75 through his involvement.
But the 36-year-old, of no fixed address but from St Helens, was also told to repay only £1. Proceedings for 54-year-old Hughes, who appeared via video link to HMP Garth in Lancashire, were adjourned until April next year.
The court previously heard that the "Billy Whizz" gang moved nearly 50kg of amphetamine, drugs worth up to £500,000. The substance is commonly nicknamed speed or whizz, hence the inspiration for the cartoon packaging.
Detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit busted the OCG after launching an undercover surveillance operation into its activities in February 2020. NWROCU said the investigation revealed what proved to be a "large-scale drug dealing business with connections around the UK".
But it was EncroChat messages, recovered that year as part of the hack of the encrypted mobile phone network commonly utilised by gangsters, which provided officers with the additional evidence they needed to blow the lid on the drug dealing network. Hughes - who used the handle Nova Coast - Hunter and Dooley, aka Octo Ox, were identified as key players in the plot, supplying both cocaine and amphetamine across the UK.
Meanwhile, Hunter was also conspiring with others to supply ketamine, another class B drug. The gang bought and sold more 49kg of amphetamine, worth up to £490,000, between February 2020 and March 2021.
Hughes, of Rock Lane in Widnes, was jailed for 10-and-a-half years in July 2021 after organising the handover of drugs with third parties. Hunter was sentenced to nine years and seven months.
Dooley, received nine years and "trusted courier" Stephen Piert - of Harlow Close in St Helens - was locked up for two years and seven months after the 27-year-old moved amphetamine for the gang. Another courier who transported amphetamines across the UK - 36-year-old Neal Rodgers, of Howard Street in Thatto Heath - was given a 12-month imprisonment suspended for two years.
And 33-year-old Paul Lever - of Hauxwell Grove, St Helens - also received 12 months suspended for two years. He had managed the gang's "safehouse".
Then came the rumbling of Anthony Lenehan, a bonus for the undercover team which came after messages between him - using the handle Jet Hawk - and Hughes were revealed. Their conversations centred on the supply of cocaine across the UK. Communications suggested the former was involved in "supplying cocaine at a regional level " and had "successfully imported 100kg into Hamburg". Lenehan had worked with others to order the massive haul, 8kg of which was his.
Further messages stated he was handed 2kg of cocaine as part-payment for a debt in April of last year, while further discussions plotted the sale of kilogram amounts of the class A drug for prices between £37,000 and £39,000. The dealer, who lived in Dubai before he was jailed, appeared to be chasing debts owed by people in India and Iran and revealed how he was holding onto the vehicle of another dealer who owed him £155,000.
One of the topics of conversation that helped detectives to identify him was an HMRC investigation that saw him arrested over allegations linked to cigarette importation. As part of the HMRC probe, Lenehan had his passport confiscated.
In response, he applied for a new one - claiming his old one had been lost. This was said to have represented a "deliberate attempt to gain a new passport knowing his old one hadn't been lost". Lenehan admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and making a false statement to gain a passport. He was handed eight years and 10 months in October 2021.
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