Duty-Free Scam in Dry Dock
A Gang who smuggled drugs into Britain by posing as booze cruisers have been stripped of their ill-gotten gains.
Five men from an eight-strong gang were ordered this week to pay back a total of £150,000 in cash and assets or face further time behind bars.
In March, John Arthur Smith, Francis Gallagher, John Traynor, Gary McEvatt, Thomas Murphy, Edward Whelan, Kieran Moore and Lee Mortimer were jailed for a combined total of 68 years.
They were nailed by a police operation codenamed Copybook, which saw undercover officers trail the crooks across Europe, watching as they hatched their plot to flood the streets of Merseyside with cocaine and heroin.
John Traynor, of Keswick Drive, Litherland, would take the drugs on board a P&O ferry and, during the 11-hour voyage, pack it into cases of bottled beers.
Francis Gallagher, a ferry employee, would then walk them off the boat, as duty-free, past customs officers. Once ashore, they would meet up at Gallagher’s home, in Clorain Road, Kirkby. Evidence of meetings with other members of the gang and examination of mobile phones and billing records led to his arrest and his conviction.
Police estimate that, taking into account all the trips they saw John Traynor make, the gang would have smuggled around £10m of drugs.
1. John Arthur Smith of Mather Avenue, Liverpool L18 was arrested on the 5th November 2005 at 166 Booker Avenue, Liverpool L18 9TB. At this address the sum of £7360 in Bank of England notes, £2640 in Scottish currency was seized.
2. On the 5th of November 2005 Francis Gallagher was arrested outside his girlfriends house in Hull, inside the boot of his Peugeot motor vehicle were the previously observed boxes of Stella Artois lager beer. The concealment was examined and found to contain 10.5 kilos of Diamorhpine and 4.5 kilos of Cocaine.
3. On the 5th November 2005 John Traynor was arrested in his Peugeot motor vehicle at Burtonwood Motorway Services, Warrington, near Liverpool.
4. Gary McKevatt was arrested at John Lennon Airport, Liverpool on the 19th November 2005.
5. Edward Peter Whelan of 30 Millstead Road, Old Swan, Liverpool L13 was arrested on the 19th of November 2005.
6. Lee Andrew Mortimer was arrested on the 5th December 2005 when he attended Belle Vale police station, Liverpool.
7. Kieran Myles Moore of Burnley was arrested on the 9th September 2005 on Winwick Road, Warrington, Cheshire, driving a Mitsubishi 4 x 4.
8. Murphy was arrested at his home address, 115 Gaywood Green, Kirkby on the 24th October 2005, 2 kilos of Cocaine were found.
Sentencing on the 28th February 2007 at Liverpool Crown Court.
1. Smith pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply Cocaine, 6 months imprisonment for possession of a prohibited weapon and given a 5-year travel order.
2. Gallagher after a lengthy trial was found guilty of conspiracy to supply both Cocaine and Heroin. He was sentenced to two terms of 13 years imprisonment to run concurrently, with a 5-year travel banning order to take effect upon his release.
3. Traynor pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two terms of imprisonment of 10 ½ years for supplying Cocaine and Heroin to run concurrently and a four-year travel banning order.
4. Whelan pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for supplying controlled drugs and a four-year travel banning order.
5. Murphy was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for supplying controlled drugs and a five-year travel banning order.
6. McEvatt after a lengthy trial was found guilty and was sentenced to a period of 7 years imprisonment for supplying controlled drugs and a four-year travel banning order.
7. Mortimer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6-½ years imprisonment for supplying controlled drugs and a three-year travel banning order.
8. Moore pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for possession of Cocaine with Intent to Supply.
At a confiscation hearing at Liverpool crown court this week, a judge ordered they, along with Edward Whelan, of Millstead Road, Wavertree; Lee Mortimor, of Colling Street, Burnley, Lancashire; and Thomas Murphy, of Gaywood Green Heights, Kirkby, pay back their illegitimate earnings.
DCI Mike Jones, head of the North West Regional Asset Recovery Team, said: “Once again, this demonstrates that we will continue to target drug dealers across Merseyside and make effective use of the Proceeds Of Crime legislation to ensure those involved do not profit from this trade.”
“The defendants have been given six months to pay the confiscation orders; failure to pay on the due date will result in a further term of imprisonment.”
“It is likely that the defendants will have to sell their homes and motor vehicles in order to satisfy the orders made against them.”
The gang’s ringleader John Smith, of Booker Avenue, Allerton, will go before a judge in December to find out what he must hand over.