Organised crime group jailed for supplying more than 130 kilos of cocaine
The men from Bristol and Portishead have been jailed for a total of 56 years for cocaine conspiracy across the South West
An organised crime group based in the South West have been jailed for a combined 56 years following an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.
It's after they uncovered the group had supplied more than 130 kilos of cocaine across the region - valued at £4.5 million.
The four men, all from Bristol and Portishead, were sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Friday (15 March) for their roles in the conspiracy.
Their arrests in 2020 followed work as part of Operation Venetic, the UK response to the takedown of Encrochat, an encrypted messaging service that was used by criminals worldwide.
38-year-old Kai Williams has been jailed for 18 years after pleading guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to supply 130 kilos of cocaine.
The man from Coombe Dingle in Bristol acted as a class A drugs broker for the crime syndicate. His black Mercedes, which had a lock knife concealed in the boot, as well as jewellery, designer clothing and trainers, a bottle of Cristal Champagne and a holdall containing £4,000 cash were all seized as evidence to show the lifestyle he led.
28-year-old Luther Takawira from Portishead, alongside friends James Cox, 34, and Benjamin Fry, 34, who were both from Shirehampton in Bristol, were all convicted by a jury on 11 March of conspiring to supply cocaine.
Takawira was sentenced to 15 years, Cox to 12 years and Fry to 11 years.
Takawira and Cox were also convicted of transferring criminal property, namely hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash. Cox had £32,000 stored in a safe at his house.
Detective Inspector Adrian Hawkins who led the investigation said: “This organised crime group was dealing in multi kilo quantities of cocaine, with Cox collecting 20 kilos on single trip to Slough and his friend Fry bringing 30 kilos back from West Bromwich on another. Those drugs were then delivered onwards across our region – including Portsmouth, Trowbridge, Bristol and Bridgwater - making the group hundreds of thousands of pounds to fund lifestyles that no doubt couldn’t be more different to those of many of the users they supplied.”
Their sentences follow months of investigations - with teams from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit spending that time reviewing hundreds of thousands of messages to identify the roles and activities of the criminal network.
They helped decode and present the contents of these messages – which the criminals had thought were protected on the EncroChat messaging service – to the court.
When combined with handwritten logs at Takawira and Cox’s homes detailing cash and cocaine deliveries the extent of their conspiracy became clear.
DI Hawkins added: “This group has caused untold harm to the communities across our region whilst they lived comfortably from the proceeds of those crimes. The sentences handed down reflect this and act as a warning that we continue to use all our specialist capabilities to pursue those involved.”
Anyone with information about drug dealing within their communities can contact their local force online or via 101. You can also contact Crimestoppers, completely anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their website.