A Scot has been jailed after being convicted as part of an international drugs gang which imported £1 million worth of cocaine and cannabis into the country. Glaswegian William Brown, 31, Lee Moore, 48, Charles Dodkins, 29, Daniel Snowdon, 42, appeared at Teesside Crown Court near Stoke, charged with drugs and weapons offences.
Officers arrested Snowdon, Moore and Dodkins on August 9, 2021, after raiding Dodkins' home on Staithes Road in Redcar. The court heard that investigators found £12,300 of cocaine hidden in a cooker hood, £18,000 cash stuffed inside a zip-lock bag, cannabis, and a notebook detailing £1 million of drug transactions with names and numbers.
Teesside Live reports that searches revealed a deactivated handgun, a replica handgun, 2 self-loading semi-automatic pistols with a silencer and live and blank ammunition which was found in a neighbour's garden. Text message between the three men and William Brown - who boasted that he could get hold of huge quantities of drugs from Glasgow and Manchester - revealed they were running an international drugs operation.
Prosecutor Anthony Pettengell read the messages to the court, detailing conversations between Moore and Snowdon asking him to supply a gun and body armour. Messages showed Moore complaining of the difficulties of "getting firearms into the UK."
Brown, of Langside Road in Glasgow, texted the other men "I'm waiting for my boy overseas. It's cost me £200K in sales already. Once this is over, I'm going back to Spain with my family. Redcar is full of daft wannabe weedballs."
Moore texted Dodkins: "You said you were returning this work, then nothing from you. Nothing but a 6K payment from you kid. I'd like to think you're not taking me for a c***."
Moore, Brown and Snowdon made plans to grow a 20kg crop of cannabis, on a 30 by 30 metre stretch of land, that they say would yield them "90-120k." The group chat referred to pistols as "scorpions" and shotguns as "gotties."
Mr Pettengell told the court that Moore and Brown were the bosses of the gang; with Dodkins being a local supplier and Snowdon the lowest in the gangs hierarchy.
Martin Sharpe, defending Dodkins, claimed that he was only operating "at a level just above a street dealer." He claimed that the weapons were only at the house for minutes when it was raided and that he kept them for protection.
Rod Hunt, representing Moore, said that his client had only become involved in crime in his 40's: "When he was arrested, he said, 'I think it saved my life.' How sad is that? When one looks through this miserable set of factors, there is one silver lining to these clouds."
The court heard references that testified that Moore is a "model prisoner" who has qualified as a Samaritan's listener, while on remand. The court heard that Brown, claimed he tried to show that he could access more drugs than he could, saying that his messages were "all lies and bravado" but he was convicted after trial. He has a young son, who lives with his partner in Scotland.
On Tuesday, Judge Chris Smith told the gang: "Drugs lie at the heart of this serious offending. Each of you was, I am sure, attracted by the huge sums of money you could make at the cost of misery and fear to society. Gun crime increasingly goes hand in hand with drug trafficking. You set about arming yourself with weapons.
"Dodkins - this was mainly your enterprise, you sourced the firearms. Moore, your DNA was found on the weapons. You, like Dodkins, supplied significant quantities of cocaine. You offered handguns and ammunition for sale.
"Snowdon - Mr Mullarkey urged me to conclude that you played a lesser role in this. But you were a trusted lieutenant to Moore and you supplied weaponry to Dodkins so he could enforce his market position.
"You, Brown, were not arrested until 2022, but your offending was the most serious. The police found messages showing further efforts to supply handguns and ammunition, after the others had been arrested."
The judge handed Dodkins, Moore and Snowdon 14 years each for their involvement in the gang. Brown, who denied the charges, was handed a 21-years-and-four-months for his involvement.
Judge Smith said that he was "acutely aware that the sentences would take the men away from their children - for much of their childhood." The four men will serve up to two-thirds of their sentences, before they are eligible for release on licence. The judge set a timetable for proceeds of crime hearings to take place.
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