Pair played key roles in £53m cocaine plot

TWO men from Greater Manchester played key criminal roles in a 'truly massive' £53m cocaine supply plot which saw huge quantities of the drug transported across the UK.

- CRAIG McGLASSON AND NEAL KEELING

Carlisle Crown Court heard how vast quantities of the drug - generally shipped into the country from overseas into ports and then transported to the Greater Manchester and Liverpool areas were distributed by criminal couriers to many towns and cities across the British mainland.

Their destinations included Newcastle and also the south Lakes, where one of the plotters, 31-year-old Reece Barnes, kept the cocaine in a lock-up near his home.

Evidence pointed to two main criminal players - Simon Buller, 45, of Freshfield Avenue, Atherton; and Andrew Stephens, 41, of East Field Drive, Golborne, near Wigan - who moved 232kg of drugs between them during an illegal enterprise which ran for almost 15 months, from March 1, 2022 to May 25 last year.