A massive organised crime gang who trafficked millions of pounds of ‘high-purity’ cocaine branded with a distinctive tiger logo have been brought down by undercover cops.
A total of 16 members of the Middleton-based OCG who supplied drugs across the north of England are now behind bars after a three-year investigation by Greater Manchester Police’s serious organised crime squad. Their downfall came after cops launched ’13 simultaneous strikes’ on homes across Greater Manchester this summer.
Det Sgt Mark Rigby described the operation as an ‘exhaustive investigation’ which is testament to ‘years of hard work’.
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The gang’s kingpins Jonathan Smith and Louis Cleworth first came to the police’s attention undercover cops found they in regular contact with James Mulligan, head of the notorious Mulligan crime family from Tameside. The day after Mulligan was arrested in October 2021, Smith went to ground.
He stopped using his mobile phone and appeared to stop using his car, as it was no longer getting picked up by the police’s automatic number plate recognitions systems. In fact the gang had replaced him with Jacob Smith, who took over his courier role.
But by March 2022, believing the police investigation had hit a wall following Mulligan’s arrest, Jonathan Smith swaggered back to work. However unbeknown to him, police had his entire gang under surveillance.
Between September 1, 2021 and July 20, 2022, when police launched the raids on gang members’ homes, it’s thought they were responsible for moving at least 75 kilos of high purity cocaine, with an estimated street sale value of £7.5million. But the total amount is thought to be far higher.
Police say the gang had customers based across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and West Yorkshire. Detectives gathered evidence of around 150 deliveries that were made from Middleton to locations across the North.
On Thursday May 5, 2022, undercover cops witnessed an exchange between gang member Reece Storey and Mark Hague, of Bradford, on Stakehill Lane, Middleton. Hague was then followed back to West Yorkshire where he was stopped by police on Scholes Street in Bradford.
In the back of his car, police recovered two solid parcels wrapped in brown parcel tape and plastic, bearing a distinctive tiger emblem on the packaging. The parcels were later analysed and confirmed to be high purity cocaine.
The following day Cleworth was arrested at his home on Hawkshead Drive on Middleton’s Langley estate. Inside police found more than £3,000 cash, a mobile phone, and keys for a property on Boarshaw Clough Way, believed was being used as a safe house.
When police raided there they found a gang member asleep on the sofa alongside six kilos of cannabis bush contained in vacuum sealed bags and two blocks of cocaine wrapped in brown parcel tape with the same tiger emblem on.
It was the final piece of the jigsaw they needed to bring the whole operation down. On Wednesday July 27 police executed 13 simultaneous strikes at properties across Greater Manchester. Tens of thousands of pounds of cash, designer clothes, high value jewellery, and debtor lists were seized.
One OCG member, Elliot Riley ran out the back of his house in his underwear straight into waiting police, so turned round and ran back inside, where he was arrested. Before he made his escape attempt, Riley had attempted to snap two mobile phones in half then set fire to them in the toilet.
Det Sgt Rigby said: “Drugs trafficking is a major source of revenue for organised crime groups, and it brings a culture of violence and addiction to our communities. Through conducting hundreds of painstaking hours of surveillance, we were able to build this case and bring each and every offender operating in this conspiracy to justice, despite their efforts to evade police.”
The convicted gang members and co-conspirators are:
Anthony Nicholls, 32, of Alder Avenue, Bury, was jailed for 17 years and six months for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.
Waqar Ahmed, 38, Fountain Street, Nelson, Lancs was jailed for 15 years for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs and possession of criminal property.
Mark Hague, 56, of Scholes Street, Bradford, was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Jonathan Smith, 41, of Swinstead Avenue, Manchester, was jailed for 17 years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Louis Cleworth, 37, of Hawkshead Drive, Middleton, was jailed for 14 years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Jacob Smith, 34, of Higher Wood Street, Middleton, was jailed for ten years and ten months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Kyle Salt, 32, of Allen Roberts Road, Newton heath was jailed for ten years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Reece Storey, 34, of Newby Drive, Middleton, was jailed for nine years and nine months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
James Kilcourse, 57, of Boarshaw Clough Way, Middleton, was jailed for seven years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Elliot Riley, 31, of Mossway, Middleton, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Marshall Ashley, 30, of Scholes Street, Bradford was jailed for 11 years and three months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Liam Bottomley, 31, of Adstone Avenue, Blackpool, was jailed for ten years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Bradley Hughes, 31, of Rosemary Avenue, Blackpool, was jailed for 13 years for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
David Ditchfield, 36, of Paignton Ave, Hattersley, was jailed for 15 years and six months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Jordan Wood, 34, of Argyle Street, Heywood, was jailed for 14 years and eight months for conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of criminal property.
Christopher Paul, 35, of Hill Place, Nelson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was jailed for 16 years.
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