Two drug dealers mass produced a substance nicknamed “marshmallow” so they could boost profits on the cocaine they were selling.
Wesley Kavanagh and Lee Taylor specialised in the adulterant, also known as “marsh”.
A court case that concluded this week heard how the pair would sell it to other dealers while also using it to ‘bulk up’ their own drugs.
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Kavanagh and Taylor were jailed for 12 years each after their cocaine and cannabis conspiracy was busted by police.
Both used the EncroChat communications network, though Kavanagh only activated his device days before the system was shut down after being compromised by investigators.
It was Taylor’s messages under the codename MusicalSalmon that allowed detectives to unravel their exploits.
In April 2020 the 34-year-old explained to another user he had been “making marshmallow” and “doing some braking bad s**t” [sic] - a reference to the hit TV show Breaking Bad in which a science teacher moves into the drugs business.
Taylor said he was in business with “Wez”, adding his associate had paid someone in Wales £5,000 to show him how to make the substance.
Liverpool Crown Court heard ‘Marshmallow’ is an adulterant containing boric acid that is used as a bulking agent to reduce the purity of cocaine - allowing more of it to be sold.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said in messages from June 2020 Taylor detailed the production of 150 “boxes” - kilograms.
They were sold for between £300 and £400 each.
In another message, he told how he would put one ounce of “marsh” into a corner - 250g - of cocaine.
He wrote that his customers could not tell their cocaine had been adulterated and suggested that, without doing it, the price of cocaine had increased so much during the first coronavirus lockdown that he could not earn a profit.
Kavanagh, 36 and of Stockport Road in Thelwall, was arrested at Gatwick Airport last April as he was about to board a flight to Mexico.
Taylor, 34 and of Longshaw Street in Warrington, was arrested at his home.
The dads each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.
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