Jail For Wigan Drugs Gang Members

28/02/2012

Four men involved in plots to sell heroin and cocaine with a street value of up to £740,000 are beginning jail terms that total 48 years after being convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

The men were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service following an investigation by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, which centred on a conspiracy to buy class A drugs in London and sell them on the streets of Wigan. 

Ben Southam Senior Crown Prosecutor from the CPS North West Area Complex Casework Unit said:   "The CPS and police have worked closely together to bring these defendants to justice.  They were involved in bringing tens of thousand of pounds worth of class A drugs onto streets in Greater Manchester. Some were caught red handed with the drugs.  The others were linked to the transportation of the drugs through surveillance and other evidence.  We will not tolerate our streets being polluted by drugs from organised gangs and will continue to robustly prosecute those involved in this criminality."

Detective Inspector Michael Fraser, of The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "This case proves that we have listened to the concerns of local residents and acted on them.  No criminal is untouchable and this success demonstrates that, with the right information, we can arrest anyone."

Three of the men were from the Wigan area and the fourth was from London.  Daniel Tang from Golborne was convicted after trial of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine and sentenced to 18 years in prison. John Rasburn from Bickershaw pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Lee Harris from Abram was convicted after trial of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was sentenced to five years in prison.  Kurt Blondell from London was convicted after trial of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A fifth man, Benson Okoli, from London, was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and he will be sentenced at a later date.

Five others, Dean Jones and Kelvin Jones from Platt Bridge, Ryan Hackett from Warrington, Keith Prescott from Abram and Kim Dedier from Harrow, Middlesex pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to drugs offences.  They will also be sentenced at a later date.

Tang and Rasburn were at the head of an organised crime group operating in the Wigan area. They arranged, through Dean Jones, large quantities of drugs to be brought to Wigan from London and were considered by many in the community to be 'untouchable' by the authorities.

Okoli and Blondell, both based in London, used Dedier to bring large amounts of cocaine north to Wigan. Tang and Rasburn used Harris and Prescott as couriers, taking cash to their London connections before returning north with the drugs.

Tang and Rasburn were also involved in the supply of heroin with the assistance of Dean Jones.

In June 2010, a covert operation by The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit led to the arrests of Dedier, Rasburn and Jones, and Tang then used others to travel to London to courier cash and drugs.