A gang led by "Jabba the Hutt" smuggled wholesale quantities of heroin into the UK from the Netherlands.
The Merseyside-based organised crime group also supplied millions of pounds of class A drugs across the north west. Anthony Bowden, one of Jabba's most closely trusted associates, was today locked up for 21 years over the ring.
Liverpool Crown Court heard this morning, Friday, that the large-scale operation was organised on encrypted communications platform EncroChat. The OCG's boss used a device with the handle JabbaTheHutt as he directed the sale of more than 84kg heroin and 17kg cocaine.