A drugs gang who plotted to ship deliveries of cocaine to Scotland armed themselves with hand grenades and planned to recruit "lads who blow heads off".
Graham Minards, 37, used a network of criminal contacts in Colombia, Brazil and Dubai while he and associates imported tens of millions of pounds of heroin and cocaine into the UK.
He planned to transport 50kg of cocaine from London to Glasgow and organised a "fleet of vehicles" to move the drugs.
When his business partner Peter Bradshaw, 42, came under significant threats after racking up huge debts with those higher up the chain, they hatched plans to respond with violence through their access to a fearsome arsenal of weapons and explosives, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court was told on Thursday that the two organised a "very large scale and sophisticated nationwide drugs supply business" using an encrypted chat network called EncroChat.
Police managed to infiltrate the chat in 2020 and found messages indicating the pair had been "involved in the purchasing and supply of multi-kilo quantities of drugs on a daily basis".
The duo also indicated they would smuggle drugs and cash on behalf of others, believing they would make millions of pounds in the process.
Discussions included agreeing to transport 50kg of cocaine from London to Glasgow. Minards also asked Bradshaw to collect more than 50kg of drugs from Essex and Newcastle.
A further 45kg of illicit substances was arranged to be moved via couriers. Together, they "organised a fleet of vehicles" with secret hiding places to stash the drugs.
Minards was asked by another gang member if he could arrange the movement of a £2million in cash from Birmingham to London, with Minards indicating he should be paid £10,000 per million - and that there would be £6million per month to ship.
Bradshaw had racked up debts of around £750,000 by June 2020 and was under threat from gangsters higher up the chain, the court heard. He and Minards suggested they had weapons and contacts who could beat the aggressors up.
Using the codeword "pineapples" to refer to hand grenades, one text sent by Bradshaw on June 12, 2020 read: "Mate, me and Tony have got a gym bag full of them. I've got pineapples and everything I bought years ago. It's not about that. He has crossed the line saying kids and that lad."
Minards then replied: "Lad I've got kids here by my mum's who blow any c***'s head off never mind legs, f*** him."
A third gang member, Michael Aboo, 29, was recruited by Bradshaw as a courier. He pledged to use his cover as a maintenance man to transport "huge sums of drugs and cash". However, he refused to travel to Scotland as he had previously been convicted of drugs offences north of the Border.
In total, Minards agreed deals to supply 1,235kg of cocaine, 89kg of heroin, 88.5kg of cannabis and 195l of amphetamine oil. Bradshaw discussed trafficking 1,067kg of cocaine, 175kg of heroin, 380.5kg of cannabis and 374l of amphetamine oil. Aboo was involved in the sale of 467kg of cocaine, 3kg of heroin and 60kg in cannabis as well as the transfer of £764,000.
Bradshaw's lawyer said his client was "sorry for what he has done and is determined to put it right". Meanwhile Minards' representative in court said the gangster was "a decent, hard-working, honest man" who has previously run marathons for charity. He said he had let his three young daughters down but his family had vowed to stand by him.
Aboo's lawyer said he was "remourseful" and "was at the bottom of the pecking order" in terms of his involvement in the criminality.
Minards admitted conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis. Bradshaw pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis.
Aboo meanwhile admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to launder money. Sentence was deferred until next week. Minards and Aboo are scheduled to appear on Wednesday, with Bradshaw in court on Friday.
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