A former "trusted lieutenant" in an international cocaine smuggling ring went back to his old tricks after his release from a lengthy jail sentence - becoming the "ringleader" of a new criminal network.
William Marsh, 36, was last week described as the head of an organised crime group sourcing cocaine and heroin in Liverpool and selling it on the streets of Southampton. Marsh, of Rock Lane, Melling, was involved in the conspiracy between March and May 2021, while still on licence after serving time for his previous criminal activities, Southampton Crown Court heard.
In September, 2014, Marsh was identified as at the top end of a sophisticated trafficking ring who flooded the UK with cocaine smuggled into Merseyside from mainland Europe.
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Ian Harris, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how the then 28-year-old Marsh was a “facilitator” who went abroad to oversee the hand over of high purity cocaine to couriers who brought it back to Liverpool. Over the course of the conspiracy, he travelled to Turkey, France, Spain, Holland and Dubai.
Marsh was convicted alongside fellow gang members Christopher Corry, Jordan Talbot, Ryan McQueen and James Gradwell, who were jailed for a combined 48 years. They were eventually joined by ringleader and former "Merseyside's most wanted" Dominic McInally, who spent years on the run before being snatched by Spanish police at a strip-club in Marbella in February, 2020.
McInally was extradited to the UK and stood trial in 2021. Liverpool Crown Court heard how before he fled the UK, he lived in a luxury flat complex in Victoria Road, Formby, the street beloved by Premier League stars and millionaire property developers. Police found a wardrobe full of £85,000 of designer clothes and watches, including 44 pairs of shoes with Balenciaga trainers and Louboutin boots, as well as £35,000 in dirty cash stashed under the floorboards of his parents' house.
The gang were taken down when 6kg of high purity cocaine, stashed inside in a specially designed hidden compartment inside a Seat Leon car, was intercepted in France with Gradwell, then 24, behind the wheel.
Messages on a seized Blackberry phone suggested the gang planned to smuggle around 24kg of cocaine into the UK every month.
Marsh, who himself had fled abroad abroad for a short time before his arrest, was locked up for 10 years, meaning he would have been released on licence in around 2019. By Spring 2021, Hampshire Police were deep into an investigation into a network of cocaine and heroin dealers based around an address in Mandela Way, Southampton.
A total of £500,000 worth of drugs were seized by police from a number of addresses in the city, along with a large quantity of benzocaine – a cutting agent to increase profits. Messages recovered from phones linked to the gang revealed that every five weeks, approximately 1.5kg of heroin and 1.2kg of cocaine were being supplied in the area.
Marsh was linked to the group by messages seized from the phones of gang members in Southampton, and arrested in September 2021. He denied involvement but was convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs by a jury.
Judge Mr Justice Henry said the group's messages suggested they intended to flood Southampton with around 48kg of Class A drugs, worth more than £4.5million when cut into street deals. Marsh was jailed for 15 years, and handed a Serious Crime Prevention Order for five years following his release from prison.
Detective Constable Amy Speed of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Complex Investigation Support Unit, said: “We hope that the sentencing passed by the judge sends out a clear and stark message to those currently involved in drug supply, or those that are considering it, across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
"We are absolutely clear that we do not tolerate any form of drug-supply, or the associated criminal exploitation or drug-related harm, that comes with committing these offences. Organised criminal gangs, as was the case in this instance, or individuals who are going out intending to distribute quantities of drugs on the streets of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will be found and will be stopped.
“We will continue to deal robustly with those that continue to cause harm to our communities; working with local and national partners in order to place those responsible in front of the criminal justice system and for justice to be served.
“In sentencing these men for the crimes they have committed, not only are they behind bars – some for a considerable amount of time – and off the streets so that they can no longer cause harm to our local communities."
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