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Cocaine Dealers Who Filmed Themselves Counting Cash Busted In Dramatic Motorway Raid

Cocaine Dealers Who Filmed Themselves Counting Cash Busted In Dramatic Motorway Raid

This has been dubbed the largest ever inland haul of cocaine in the north of England

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

A counting machine, stacks and stacks of notes alongside two men sitting around a coffee table. Nothing suspicious then?

This is the mobile phone footage that helped to secure the convictions of a gang who supplied the streets of Manchester with cocaine.

The video clip shows Jamie Oldroyd, 29, who headed an organised crime group that was observed by police over a 14-month covert operation.

There was a second group, headed by Jamie Simpson, 31, which was found to be transporting £20 million worth of cocaine from Rochester, Kent, to Warrington, Cheshire.

According to the Manchester Evening News, police said the drugs seized from both gangs represented the largest ever inland haul of cocaine in the north of England and the largest ever in Cheshire.

It was on the evening of 2 August 2018 when Simpson along with fellow gang members Clare Smith, Andrew Daniels and Dean Brettle travelled back from Kent in a car and a van which contained 186kg of cocaine.

As they approached Warrington and reached the M6 northbound between junction 19 and 20 the gang were intercepted and stopped by Cheshire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Both vehicles were searched and officers discovered multi-million pounds worth of cocaine hidden inside. The van had been specially adapted to conceal the drugs by being packed and placed into large metal draws then hidden beneath a false floor.

The Class A drugs hidden in the van.
Cheshire Constabulary

Oldroyd and Simpson were at the highest level of their respective OCG's and were convicted for conspiring together to supply cocaine on a number of occasions.

Oldroyd was sentenced to 14 years and three months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, while Simpson was sentenced to 11 years and six months for the same charge.

Jamie Oldroyd.
Cheshire Constabulary
Jamie Simpson.
Cheshire Constabulary

So far Operation Dreadnought has resulted in 17 people being sentenced to a total of 120 years.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Evans, from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "This operation has not only resulted in the largest haul of cocaine being seized in the history of Cheshire but also the largest national in land seizure.

"We have wiped out two organised crime groups, preventing them as well as other gangs from gaining extreme profits and in doing so have protected our communities along with vulnerable adults from criminals who bring with them intimidation, exploitation and violence.

"To transport such a colossal amount of cocaine you have got to be a confident, arrogant and greedy individual."

He added: "I want the public to be reassured that protecting our local communities by pursuing organised criminals will continue to be at the forefront of our priorities."

Featured Image Credit: Cheshire Constabulary

Topics: UK News, News, crime, Drugs