A GANG of drug dealers who flooded Worcestershire and Herefordshire with cocaine and cannabis have been sentenced to a total of 94 years and four months.
Paul Bailey, 56 of Jersey Close, Redditch, was sentenced to 20 years at Worcester Crown Court on Monday after being convicted of conspiracy to supply 10kg of cocaine and 20kg of cannabis.
His sentence is the final one in a complex and lengthy investigation by the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands Region (ROCUWM) called Operation Pyrogenic which has seen other gang members sentenced at earlier court appearances.
Previous sentences
The other five involved were also convicted of conspiracy to supply 10 kilograms of and cocaine 20 kilograms of cannabis in November.
Jamie Worrall, 38, of Sandicliffe Close, Kidderminster, was sentenced to 17 years, Arron Adams, 39, of Boughton Avenue, Worcester, was sentenced to 22 years and Adam Nicholls, 42, of Weyburn Close, Worcester was sentenced to 23 years.
Nicola Everton, 37, of Cummins Farm, Hindlip, Worcester, was sentenced to six years and Phillip Smith, 57, of Gregorys Bank, Worcester, was sentenced to six years four months.
Another accomplice – Shaun Carr, 39, of Woodmancote, Worcester – was given a 10-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, after being found guilty of money laundering on November 6.
Operation Pyrogenic was a ROCUWM proactive operation into the large-scale supply of cocaine and cannabis into Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands area.
The operation took place between April 2020 and July 2021 revealing the gang operated a large-scale middle market drugs supply chain and were involved in the sourcing, distribution and selling of drugs which reached as far as Lincolnshire and Devon.
This organised crime group used encrypted mobile phone devices on a platform based in France called ‘Encro-chat’ to organise the supply of cannabis and cocaine which were infiltrated and deciphered by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Bailey, Adams, Nicholls, Worrall, Everton, and Smith used these devices to orchestrate the multi-kilo supply of cannabis and cocaine into the region. They continued to operate after the Encro-chat network had been infiltrated by police using other encrypted communication applications.
On July 9, 2020, Everton was arrested by police with a kilogram of cocaine in her vehicle on the M5 near junction 6 (Worcester).
On January 6, 2021, police arrested Bailey, Adams, Nicholls and Smith at their home addresses.
Decoding the Encro-chat
During searches of the addresses, imagery was found to assist in the attribution of the Encro-chat handles. Nicholls foolishly sent an image of his computer with his reflection on it over the Encro-chat under one of the user handles.
On October 27, 2020, Carr was arrested by officers at junction 2 on the M5 with £17,000 in a plastic shopping bag.
They found one of Nicholls’ fingerprints on this bag. Police seized numerous mobile phones after the conspirators had been arrested.
On Smith’s mobile phone, police found evidence of drug supply and conversations between him and other conspirators about the movement of drugs.
Carr, Smith, Bailey, Everton and Worrall all pleaded guilty prior to trial. After a three-week trial at Worcester Crown Court a jury took less than six hours of deliberation to find Adams and Nicholls guilty of the conspiracy on November 6.
‘Large number of drugs off the streets’
Det Ch Insp Peter Cooke, from ROCUWM, said: “This is a fantastic result following a complex investigation.
“The team have successfully taken a large number of drugs off the streets and put this group who caused misery in our communities behind bars for a very long time.
“Drugs ruin lives and poison communities and we remain dedicated to breaking supply lines through our region.
“These offenders are ruthless and think nothing of exploiting vulnerable people, putting them at risk of serious harm, while they sit back and count the money.
“These sentences send a strong message that drug dealers will be caught, and they face many years in prison.
“We will continue to strive to keep drugs off our streets and protect vulnerable people.”
This investigation forms part of Operation Target – West Mercia Police’s work to tackle serious and organised crime.
