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Cocaine drug gang ringleaders thrown behind bars
News from the Boston Standard, Lincolnshire: bostonstandard.co.uk, on Twitter @standardboston
The Boston-based ringleaders of a big organised drugs ring have been jailed at Nottingham Crown Court today.
Nicholas Howarth, 42, of Wing Drive in Boston and Leigh Upsall, 30, of Keel Drive in Kirton were said by police to be ‘extremely professional in the cutting, preparation and distribution’ of cocaine onto the streets of Lincolnshire.
They were two of nine men with a link to the area that were busted as part of an 18-man drugs ring by detectives from East Midlands Special Operations Unit - Serious Organised Crime (EMSOU-SOC) as part of Operation Latious.
The group initially sourced their class A drugs from London before turning to an organised crime group in Peterborough and then Grimsby as their supply networks closed down.
The supply of high purity cocaine onto the county’s streets took place over a period between December 2010 and November 2011 and the defendants were arrsted during planned raids between September 2011 and May 2012.
A total of 18 men have appeared before Nottingham Crown Court, getting in excess of 100 years for charges of conspiring to supply and distribute class A drugs.
Today, following Newton court hearings that began on Monday, the following men were sentenced:
*Nicholas Benjamin Howarth, 42, of Wing Drive in Boston - 13 years and four months in prison
*Leigh Upsall, 30, of Keel Drive in Kirton - 10 years in prison
*Lee Quigley, 42, of Taylor Close in Boston - 5 years, 4 months in prison
*Andrew Friel, 29, of Geddington Road in Peterborough - 12 years in prison
*Hakki Salih, 50, of Maroons Way in London - 9 years, 4 months in prison
Their sentences follow those of 13 other men from September, which can today be revealed.
They were:
*Christopher Murton, 25, of Roseberry Avenue in Boston - 4 years in prison
*Colin Stuart Gibson, 57, of Station Road in Kirton - 5 years, 9 months in prison
*Timothy Hampson, 41, of London Road in Wyberton - 5 years, 9 months in prison
*Brett Anthony Fletcher, 29, of Saundergate Lane East in Wyberton - 16 months in prison
*Darren Stephen Peters, 45, of Maize Farm in East Heckington - 4 years, 2 months in prison
*Richard Johnson, serving prisoner at HMP North Sea Camp - 6 years, 8 months in prison
Also from Peterborough:
*Matthew Purves, 28, of Stewartby Avenue in Peterborough - 10 years in prison
*Gavin Chappell, 28, of Orchard Mews in Peterborough - 4 years, 8 months in prison
*Ian Russell Mortimer Foster, 29, of Lessingham in Orton Brimbles, Peterborough - 6 years in prison
*Ashley Jones, 28, of Stanground in Peterborough - 4 years, 6 months in prison
*Ian George Anderson, 44, of Lincoln Road in Peterborough - 4 years, 8 months in prison
From Grimsby
*Leslie Paul Gray, 49, of Hope Street in Grimsby - 8 years in prison
From Derbyshire
*Anslow David Farrar, 51, of Station Road in Spondon, Derby - 4 years in prison
The Senior Investigating Officer DCI Joe Elliott from EMSOU-SOC said: “This was a large and complex investigation and the arrest and conviction of these men has stopped the supply of large amounts of cocaine coming onto the streets of Lincolnshire.
“This was a sophisticated crime group who were making large amounts of money from their enterprise.”
DCI Elliott also thanked Cambridgeshire Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Serious Organsied Crime Agency for help in cracking the crime ring - as well as the East Midlands Complex Case Unit of the CPS for securing the prosecutions.
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Weather for Boston, Lincolnshire
Friday 24 May 2013
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