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The boss of an organised crime group who set up a front company to handle returned items for Amazon and Argos has been jailed for 20 years over a plot to import 1.3 tonnes of cocaine into the UK.
Darryn Schofield, 45, who was the boss of a Merseyside group organised the fake company with underlings Stephen Martland, 70, and Paul Mockett, 50, so they could mask the arrival of the Class A drugs which had a street value of £140m.
Martland, of Lakeland Gardens, Chorley, rented an industrial unit at the Bradley Hall Trading Estate in Standish, Wigan, where the cocaine would be delivered after arriving from Sierra Leone in West Africa.
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The group sent an email to the company renting out the unit saying it “will be used for the storage of house clearance items plus pallets of returned goods from Amazon, Argos and other relevant retailers that need to sell their returns”.
The company was completely fake and had no ties to any legitimate retailers.
Mockett, of Stump Lane, Chorley, registered a limited company called BH Supplies Limited, which was used to purchase chemicals for the adulteration of cocaine.
The crime group’s plans were ruined when the shipping container was stopped in August 2022 by National Crime Agency partners from Border Force who discovered the haul at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk. The drugs were in 20kg sacks and had a coverload of flour.
NCA officers began a painstaking investigation to identify the offenders behind the conspiracy and arrested the crime group in November 2023.
When ringleader Schofield, of School Drive, Halewood, near Liverpool, was arrested officers discovered he controlled another property in Melrose Road, Waterloo, Liverpool.
The property was used to adulterate and mix drugs and officers discovered large amounts of equipment including large cookers, moulds, stamps, a press and chemicals.
Schofield admitted importing the 1.3 tonnes and today (12 December), at Liverpool Crown Court, was sentenced to 20 years.
Mockett also admitted the same count and was jailed for 13 years six months.
Martland was convicted at trial of the same offence and was sentenced to 21 years.
Jon Sayers, NCA branch commander, said: “The National Crime Agency works at home and abroad to protect the public from the threat of class A drugs.
“Our partners in Border Force did a superb job to stop this huge haul of cocaine which would have been sold around the north west of England and further afield, and without doubt it would have led to more crimes being committed and more devastation in our communities.
“Illegal drugs supply has horrific consequences as we have tragically seen in recent years with entirely innocent members of the public hurt and killed in the crossfire of feuding gangs.
“We will continue to do everything we can with policing partners and Border Force to prevent illegal drugs supply.”
Other crime group members were also sentenced today.
Neil Maguire, 45, of Georgia Close, Bootle, Liverpool, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine for the OCG (not the 1.3 tonnes). He was involved in the supply of multi-kilo amounts of cocaine between 2020 and 2023 and was sentenced to 11 years and four months.
Paul O’Shea, 46, of Edge Lane, Crosby, Liverpool, also admitted the same 2023 charge. He involved in a number of handovers of cocaine and provided storage for the group. He was jailed for six years.
Darren Wetton, 54, of Ashby Street, Chorley, was convicted at trial of supplying cannabis between March and December 2022. He was sentenced to 12 months suspended for 18 months.
David Jones, 56, of Eton Street, Walton, Liverpool, was directed by Schofield. He was arrested in possession of just under 1kg of tetramisole, an adulterant for cocaine, and admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years.
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