Properties, cars and Rolex watches have been seized from a drugs boss who made an astonishing £28million from his underworld dealings.
Jordan Talbot was jailed for 21 years and nine months back in 2021 over an EncroChat plot to supply more than 500kg of heroin and cocaine. The "top level controller" was hauled back before Liverpool Crown Court yesterday afternoon, Monday, for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Richard Pratt KC, appearing on the 31-year-old's behalf, told the court that the prosecution and defence counsel had agreed that his client had benefited to the tune of a staggering £28,435,622 from his illicit activities. Of this vast sum, Talbot was said to have £400,000 available to repay currently.
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This figure includes the £18,000 proceeds of the sale of a garage on Moore Street in Bootle which he formerly owned. This was the base of Moore Street Tyres Ltd, of which he was listed as a director on Companies House.
The tally was also contributed by Talbot's £22,100 share of equity in a house on Orlando Street. Two Rolex Yacht Master seized by police were valued at £11,600 and £9,000 respectively, with a Volkswagen Golf recovered adding £7,614.
Meanwhile, the grey BMW M140 he was driving when he was arrested as he tried to flee the UK to Spain with his girlfriend was said to be worth £19,195. A Ford Connect van, a Ford C-Max car and a quad bike contributed a further £1,000, £4,000 and £3,500.
Judge Neil Flewitt KC ordered that the £400,000 amount be repaid within three months. Talbot - who appeared via video link to HMP Manchester wearing a navy blue Montirex zip-up top and sporting short brown hair and a beard - will be required to serve an additional three years behind bars in default if he does not cough up.
The court previously heard that he was exposed as the figure behind the EncroChat handle "Little Nev" and had planned to move abroad as soon as his licence period for a past sentence for trafficking class A drugs had expired. Ahead of this big trip, the kingpin had embarked upon a two-week spending spree in which he treated himself to Rolexes totalling more than £40,000.
But detectives swooped on the major cocaine, heroin and cannabis dealer just as he was about to escape across the English Channel. Judge Flewitt stated that it had been the biggest case of its kind to date and an "extremely grave offence".
Talbot, of Elson Road in Formby, was locked up alongside conspirators James Ward - then aged 32 and of no fixed address, but from Kirkby - and 40-year-old Jamie Carlton, of Church Road in Waterloo. The three men were rumbled when the encrypted communications platform was infiltrated by law enforcement in 2020.
Ward used the pseudonym "StableToast", while Carlton operated the handle "StaleSloth". Andrew Thomas KC, prosecuting, described how their messages revealed "a multi-million pound operation involving the importation of drugs and the substantial supply of kilogram quantities to up to 30 regular customers".
The ECHO had earlier reported how Talbot was part of a cocaine gang whose hopes of netting £1million per month were dashed while they enjoyed a "celebratory breakfast" at a garden centre in January 2014. Prosecutors said he was "radically under sentenced", when he received six-and-a-half years in May 2014 as evidence later showed that he was the "leader of the UK arm" of the audacious enterprise.
Mr Thomas said Talbot was released from prison in April 2017 and became a "top level controller" of a group dealing multi-kilo quantities almost daily. He said he had employed a "money man" to assist with finances and "invested in property development to disguise his criminal property".
There had also been evidence that the defendant "was hoping to move to live in Spain" as soon his licence period expired. "Meticulous" records showed sales of £27.7million over a 15-month period, described as the "turnover".
Mr Thomas stated that the wider plot involved possibly up to 1,000kg of class A drugs over 18 months. Talbot, who was said to have also had a flat in Bootle, discussed paying couriers £300 per kilo for trips.
Messages showed him arranging deliveries to Liverpool, Wirral, Skelmersdale, St Helens, Manchester and Milton Keynes. Ward - then living in Bootle with his girlfriend - was described as a "top level courier" who moved drugs and cash on Talbot's behalf and made "deliveries of up to 24kg of class A drugs in one go".
The first-time offender had a specially-adapted Ford Connect van, "deliberately chosen because it would be inconspicuous" and boasting a secret "hide" operated with a concealed locking mechanism, as well as a Ford C-Max and Ford Mondeo. Ward recruited "lower level courier" Carlton - then of Aintree Lane, Aintree - whose record includes eight months in prison for inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Carlton was also given a similarly-adapted C-Max with a hidden compartment. Talbot was arrested in Folkestone, Kent, on July 20 2020 when attempting to leave the UK with his girlfriend in a BMW M140i which had been bought for nearly £20,000.
The drugs boss - who also had an AMG Mercedes registered in his girlfriend's name - was carrying £2,000 and 1,000 Euros, with £6,000 recovered from his flat. He had recently purchased three Rolex watches at jewellery shops in Liverpool city centre - two in another's name - paying £43,450 in total.
Ward was arrested on July 21 when his van was seized and a cash counting machine was found inside his home bearing his fingerprints, with £2,140 in cash discovered nearby. Carlton handed himself in to police on September 16.
Talbot, Carlton and Ward all admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession of criminal property. Talbot and Ward also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs.
James Hayworth, defending Talbot on this occasion, said his client had "obtained legitimate employment as a tyre fitter and set up his own business" when last released from prison. However, he added: "Ultimately there was a debt arising from drugs seized within that original case which attached to him, and he readily returned to a significant level of involvement within this particular drug conspiracy."
Mr Thomas said Talbot was involved with at least 500kg of class A drugs and less than 100kg of cannabis. Ward was jailed for 15 years and nine months alongside him, with Carlton receiving 12 years.
Sentencing, Judge Flewitt said: "You have all contributed to the degradation and human misery that drugs cause to those who take them, their families and the wider community, which is affected by the crimes committed by those who are addicted to them. It's an inevitable consequence of your convictions that your families will also suffer from your criminality."
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