Updated: Criminals in county's biggest drugs case jailed for 106 years

At Carlisle Crown Court, after the prosecution described a 15-month conspiracy involving an estimated 300 kilos of cocaine worth £53million, a judge highlighted how the illicit trade fuels crime, including thefts, robberies, burglaries and even deaths.

With all but one of the conspirators today handed long jail terms, a senior regional detective has said the case shows that such criminals are "not untouchable."

The operation involved the importation of huge quantities of the Class A drug, with some of the criminals acting as "brokers," organising the onward sale and supply to crime groups and individual dealers, including in Cumbria.

It was the dealing of Windermere man Reece Barnes, 31, that triggered an investigation, allowing police to demolish the conspiracy and expose its “Amazon-style” level of organisation.

The police investigation - given the codename Operation Matrix - exposed a web of criminal associates linked to international drug cartels, peddling cocaine to organised crime groups and dealers at a cost of £30,000 per kilo.

Judge Nicholas Barker handed down a total of just over 106 years jail to the nine offenders before the court.

One of the two men who led the operation, Simon Buller, 45, from Atherton, Manchester has yet be sentenced for his role in the conspiracy. All but one of the ten-strong group admitted conspiring to supply cocaine.

As he passed sentence, Judge Barker told the defendants: “It’s the daily diet of this court to deal with the outcome of drug dealing and drug use.

“It’s the addiction which ruins lives, destroys relationships, even causes deaths.

“It’s that supply of drugs which drives criminal activity through thefts, robbery, burglary and it often lies in the background of violence and disorder.

“That is why drugs -particularly Class A drugs – are illegal and why dealing in them receives such significant sentences; and why those who do so at large scale can expect to serve very lengthy sentences, which of course will come as no surprise to any of you.”

Earlier in the case, prosecutor Tim Evans described how police uncovered a huge network of drug importation and dealing, with key players hiring drivers to transport consignments of high-purity cocaine to locations across Cumbria and the north-west.

The drugs were also delivered to locations in Wales, the Midlands and Scotland. 

Many of the investigation leads came from contacts recovered from the phone being used by Reece Barnes, the court heard. Judge Barker then outlined the role played by each of the conspirators.

Andrew Stephens, 41, was one of the conspiracy’s two most senior organisers, communicating via WhatsApp with higher level criminals in Dubai to arrange the importation of “significant amounts of cocaine”, estimated to be at least 300 kilos of the drug.

“This was a planned and resourced operation by you,” said the judge, who rejected a defence claim that Stephens, of Eastfield Drive, Goldborne, was acting “on instructions”.

Gulam Ahmed, defending, said that the defendant had organised drivers and transport for the conspiracy but he had played no part in negotiating prices for the drugs that were bought and sold.

Held in high regard by his employer of some years, the defendant had been unable to find work during the Covid pandemic and took the option to make “easy money” by becoming involved in the drugs trade – a choice he now bitterly regretted and for which he felt remorse.

Judge Barker jailed Stephens for 20 years.

Stephen Stockall, 63, completed 16 trips during the conspiracy, supplying and estimated eight kilos of cocaine to Reece Barnes, the court heard. He told police that he had been working to pay of an earlier drugs debt of between £50,000 and £100,000.

He had written a letter expressing remorse.

Stockall, of Well Lane, Weaverham, Cheshire, had served a long sentence previously for involvement in importing heroin. His barrister Mark Connor disputed the prosecution claim that he had regularly supplied “one kilo” consignments of cocaine. “He was dealing in grams and ounces,” said the barrister.

While he accepted that he had not received “direct threats” from others in the supply chain, he feared what might happen if he refused to obey the orders of those who were directing him, the court heard.

Nor did the defendant have any influence on the people above him in the conspiracy, added the barrister. Stockall was jailed for 12 years.

Daryll Preston, 36,  of Hamilton Street, Atherton, Manchester, worked with Scott Owen to supply Reece Barnes with cocaine. Judge Barker said Preston’s role was that of a “broker”, putting suppliers in touch with customers, in this case Barnes in Windermere. 

“You were directing and organising selling on a commercial scale,” said Judge Barker.

Preston’s barrister Paul Treble said his client supplied drugs on only six occasions. He was aware of somebody who wanted the drug and he also knew somebody who could meet that demand. “There is no evidence of him living an extravagant lifestyle.”

Preston was jailed for 11 years and six months.

Patrick Harte, for Scott Owen, challenged the prosecution’s comparison of the drugs business to a highly organised “Amazon style” enterprise, saying that oversimplified what happened. Owen’s role had been “relatively limited” and he was not in control of the operation.

Judge Barker jailed Owen, of Salisbury Way, Astley, Manchester, for 14 years and six months. Owen denied wrongdoing and was the only defendant convicted after a trial.

Reece Barnes, 31, of Elim Grove, Windermere, took on the role of a “regional cocaine dealer,” said Judge Barker.

Operating from March 2022 until February of last year, he is believed to have supplied 14 kilos of cocaine within Cumbria. He ran a commercial dealing operation in the county.

Daniel Murray, for Barnes , said others in the conspiracy had referred to the defendant as “the kid,”  indicating that he had no influence on anybody else in the operation.

Judge Barker told the defendant: "You ran your own operation and would have, I have no doubt, supplied those in Cumbria with significant amounts. It was a commercial operation of some scale."

Barnes (pictured below collecting cocaine from a lock-up facility) was jailed for 12 years.

Thomas Whittaker’s barrister told the court that the defendant was a courier, transporting both cash and drugs. “There is genuine remorse,” said barrister Chris Stables. Judge Barker jailed the defendant, of Brierfield, Digmoor Skelmersdale for 12 years.

“This was high level delivery driving,” said the judge.

Michael Evans,  36, from Skelmersdale, also took on the role of a trusted courier, transporting 57 kilos of cocaine during 20 trips. He was jailed for six years.

Cain Turner, 32,  from Manchester, who is of previous good character, completed 17 trips during the conspiracy, delivering an estimated 130 kilos, which included the collection of a 75 kilo consignment in one trip alone.

Before the covid pandemic, the court heard, he had been a management training scheme, but he lost that opportunity and, in the pandemic, delivered vehicles to NHS trusts.

He was jailed for eight years and eight months.

The barrister for Anthony Warhurst, 58, of Knowsley Street, Leigh, said the defendant worked as a courier for only three weeks. After a fall he was unable to work for the first time in his life. He too was remorseful for his involvement in the conspiracy.

Judge Barker pointed out that the defendant transported 128 kilos of cocaine during the seven trips that he made. He jailed Warhurst for nine years and eight months.

Operation Matrix was launched in March 2022 after Cumbria Police asked North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) to arrest Barnes. After finding cocaine in the car Barnes was driving, officers searched his home.

They found drugs paraphernalia and a ‘dealers list’ containing hundreds of thousands of pounds of drugs sales. His list of contacts proved to be a key to unlocking what became a mammoth investigation. 

After the sentencing hearing, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Whitehead, head of NWROCU said the prosecution showed that such criminals are not "untouchable."

He said: "The convictions of these individuals will have a significant impact on drug supply in the North West and the UK as a whole because we have effectively shut down a drug importation route from Holland into the UK.

"Collectively these individual crime groups assisted each other in distributing hundreds of kilos of cocaine not only to Reece Barnes, but to hundreds of customers across the UK.

"To try and evade police, they used sophisticated, encrypted apps to communicate with each other, regularly changing their travel routes, and would use multiple locations and couriers to facilitate the importations and supplies.

"We hope that this sends a message to criminals that you are not untouchable. We are committed to ridding the streets of drugs, robustly dealing with high harm offenders to reduce crime and restore trust and confidence in communities across the North West.

"I'd like to thank our colleagues at Cumbria, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Police as well as the CPS for their help throughout this investigation."

The tenth conspirator caught in the investigation - Simon Buller, from Atherton, Manchester, is due to be sentenced next month.

The prosecution say that he and his associate Stephens were the senior figures in the conspiracy, responsible for bringing “hundreds of kilos of cocaine" into the UK for onward distribution.

Meanwhile, at least three more people are facing prosecution as a result of Operation Matrix, sources have confirmed.

Read more: £53m drugs plot with Cumbrian link was 'Amazon-style' operation