A Salford crime family who stole over £1m of cocaine from a notorious Liverpool gang created a secret ' Man City ' password when selling the stash over to local criminals.
Liverpool gangster, Richard Caswell, conspired with the Salford -based Cox family to steal 30kg of cocaine from a stash house in Merseyside. The drugs belonged to a well-known Liverpool organised crime group.
A father and son suffered serious injuries during the raid on May 23, 2020 when they were slashed and beaten by Caswell, along with Jason and Craig Cox. Hired hand, Ben Monks-Gorton, posing as a delivery driver in a hi-vis jacket, walked to the door of the house with an empty box.
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In three minutes they battered the man and his son with machetes and an axe. They then snatched 30kg of cocaine, with a wholesale value of £1.2m from a storm drain in the back yard of the house.
Footage shows the gang running back to a white van, which was on false number plates, and never recovered. They throw two bags containing the drugs into the back of the vehicle then drive off.
At Manchester Crown Court, Prosecutor Alex Langhorn told the court how the gang quickly began selling off the cocaine haul to other criminals in Manchester. A courier named Michael Nevin was the key to this process, Mr Langhorn said.
The Echo reports that Nevin arranged to sell the drugs to a well-known criminal in the Manchester area. The man then sent a 'mate' to meet Nevin near Manchester City's training ground in East Manchester.
At the handover, Nevin sold six kilograms of cocaine to a criminal who used the Encro handle 'Festivetape.' After the handover one customer was back in touch and said he wanted to buy another seven kilograms of drugs.
This second meeting was also held near to Manchester City's training ground. The court heard that the criminals involved in the handover used the password 'Man City' for the meeting.
The court also heard that one of Nevin's customers was annoyed about the use of the 'Man City' password because he was a Manchester United fan. Nevin joked that the customer had been left 'fuming.'
Police learned about the meetings near the Manchester City ground after reading messages sent on the EncroChat network, which was used by the criminals involved. Greater Manchester Police and the North West Regional Crime Unit later arrested the main participants in the conspiracy.
Monks-Gorton, 30, was jailed for six years and nine months for his part in the robbery conspiracy. Michael Nevin, 35, a courier who described himself as a 'gangster transporter' for the 'tight knit' Cox gang, was sentenced to almost 10 years in prison.
Nevin, 35, who worked as a courier for the Cox gang, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to possess criminal property. Nevin, who was not involved in the raid at the stash house, was jailed for nine years and nine months.
Caswell will be sentenced with Jason Cox, Craig Cox and Lee Cox next month. The four men have pleaded guilty to drug offences and possessing criminal property.
