A drug courier caught ferrying £250,000 of cocaine had previously served jail time for his part in a million pound cannabis plot.
Convicted drug dealer Gary Long was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court earlier this week after he was snared on the M6 when police spotted him driving "needlessly in the middle lane". Long was travelling northbound on the motorway between junctions 39 and 40, south of Penrith on March 23 this year.
Cumbria Police said officers ran some checks and made a decision to conduct a stop check on Long's van. Officers found a strong smell of cannabis when they approached the vehicle and Long was detained for a Misuse of Drugs Act search.
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But when officers searched the vehicle they found two large blocks carefully wrapped in brown tape and hidden away inside the upholstery of the van's passenger seat. Examination of the rest of the van revealed a third block had also been hidden inside another seat.
The three packages weighed over 3kg in total and were found to be cocaine with an approximate value of £250,000. But this wasn't the first time Long, of Eagle Dene, Fazakerley, had been through the criminal courts.
The now 35-year-old had previously been part of a gang who helped run a cross-country conspiracy growing cannabis worth over £1m. The 12 strong organised crime group (OCG), a majority from Merseyside, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in 2017 for their role in the plot.
Gang members were sentenced to a total of 39 years during two days of court hearings for their roles in what the prosecution described as an "industrial scale" scheme. Long, then 30, was one of the organisers of the plot along with Peter Snape, of Montrovia Crescent, Fazakerley.
But both men claimed not to be the ringleaders of the OCG - instead laying the blame at the door of an unidentified shadowy kingpin referred to in court just as "X". It wasn't until a year after the rest of the gang were jailed that "X" was unmasked as Gary Rimmer.
Rimmer, of Upton Rocks Avenue in Widnes, oversaw the operations until he was tracked down by the Titan police unit and locked up. But while Rimmer gave the orders, it was Long and Snape who ran the sophisticated operation that saw earnings soar over a million in just six months.
The pair ran the show through a series of clandestine meetings in gyms and cafes in Liverpool. The court heard both were paid "wages" by a company called Skyline for their part in the plot.
Elsewhere, five of the men worked as paid "gardeners" and spent periods of time living at the farms. The scheme saw £1.2m worth of cannabis grown between four farms across the country.
The largest site was at Tower House Farm in South Staffordshire which produced 44kg of "incredibly potent skunk" across nine modified rooms. They also grew cannabis at a site on Formosa Way, Fazakerley, as well as two in Mid Wales including a bungalow where the group stole £33,000 of electricity to help grow cannabis in four rooms.
The gang were caught when they hurriedly cleared out dozens of plants from a property that was due to be inspected by the local authority. Sentencing Long and his fellow gang members, Judge Denis Watson KC, said they had conducted a "sophisticated operation on an industrial scale".
Long and Snape were both jailed for five years and five months for their leading roles in the plot while their boss Rimmer was sent down for nine. Others jailed included dad and son James Rimmer, of Edgemoor Court, Fazakerley and Warren Rimmer, of Morston Avenue, Kirkby who were jailed for three years 10 months and three years eight months respectively.
Michael Hardwick, of Wervin Road, Kirkby, and Joseph O'Brien, of Drake Way, Fazakerley, were both jailed for three years four months, while James Foy, who lived at the cannabis farm on Formosa Way was sent down for two years 11 months. Gavin Laffey, of Imrie Street, Anfield, was jailed for three years and James March of Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley got a three years two months sentence.
Mark Roberts, of Pencaemawr, Penegoes got two years, four months, Ian Hayes, of Appleton Road, Kirkby, received two years four months while Paul Ward, from Carlake Grove, Walton, was sentenced for 14 months.
Detective Inspector Nick Hughes from North West Regional Organised Crime Unit Titan said: "These substantial jail sentences should serve as a warning to people about the consequences of becoming involved in organised crime. The cannabis this gang were growing was lining their pockets, enabling them to live comfortable lifestyles whilst flooding their communities with drugs.
"It was a sophisticated set up capable of producing far more crops in a year than most other cannabis farms we’ve ever seen. They thought they could avoid detection by setting up in isolated buildings in rural areas but our work with local forces shows that there is no place for organised crime groups to hide.
"Criminals involved in the cultivation of cannabis are often involved in other serious organised crime which brings significant harm to the very communities they are from. Every plant the police seize represents money being taken from the pockets of criminals and I’d encourage the public to keep telling us where these farms are so we can take action."
After he came out of jail for his role in the million pound cannabis plot Long qualified as an HGV driver as he planned for life on the straight and narrow. But Long was pulled back into serious criminality when he was recruited to be the courier for the high purity cocaine that was found in his van in March this year.
Unable to pull himself away from his previous life of criminality, Long found himself in deeper than before and pleaded guilty to drug supply offences. He was jailed for six years and eight months.
The seizure and investigation was part of Cumbria Police's ongoing response to protect the county against serious and organised crime. After sentencing, Detective Constable Rob Dixon of Cumbria Police said: "Long was found with a significant quantity of drugs.
"Today’s result shows the consequences that face those who travel into the county with the intent to supply drugs. We will continue to take robust action to target organised criminality in Cumbria and will pursue those involved at every level."
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