A delivery of brown boxes tipped police off to a huge £7m heroin plot.
Anthony Carroll, 39, and Anthony Sutherland, 47, both appeared via prison videolink to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court for their part in distributing vast quantities of drugs around the country. Both men pleaded guilty during previous hearings.
The court heard that police became suspicious when they saw "three large brown boxes" delivered to an address in St Helens. When this was raided by officers from the National Crime Agency - often dubbed the UK's FBI - they found a "significant number of tape-wrapped blocks" of class A drugs. More drugs were found at three other Merseyside addresses, including those of Carroll and Sutherland.
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Officers also found drug "tick lists" and ledgers, while a mobile phone which was recovered revealed more details of drugs transactions on the un-encrypted Signal platform. In all the 70kg heroin mega-haul was valued at £7m, along with significant quantities of cocaine.
A joint investigation between Merseyside Police and the NCA revealed the extent of the conspiracy, with multiple trips being made to different parts of the country, including Newcastle and Leicester.
Paul Becker, prosecuting, said that the roles the two men played in the conspiracy were not equal. Carroll, of Deepfield Drive, Huyton, was higher up in the chain, while Sutherland, of Newsham Drive, had a more subordinate role. However, they were both involved in the movement and storage of "a significant amount of drugs."
Ian Harris, defending Carroll, said he had expressed his "heartfelt remorse" for the part he played. He said the dad-of-two's involvement had had "a shattering effect on his family," including his seriously ill mum for whom he had been the primary carer.
Defending Sutherland, Stuart Mills said he had previously been a "hardworking family man" as a qualified bricklayer. However he had been forced to give up work at the age of 29 after an operation for four collapsed vertebrae, leading to his partner becoming the sole earner in the household while he became primary care giver to their two daughters.
Mr Mills said Sutherland had been an occasional recreational user of drugs but had "hit them really hard" after the death of his older sister from cancer. This led to him spiralling into debt.
Judge Gary Woodhall said both Carroll and Sutherland had played significant roles in the organising, buying, and selling of class A drugs on a commercial scale, which brought misery to communities. He jailed Carroll for 13 years and six months, and Sutherland for 10 years and four months, of which they will both serve half before being released on licence.
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