The final member of a cocaine and heroin gang, whose Burton leader helped mastermind the highest-value ever seizure of the drugs by Greater Manchester Police, has been jailed.
Jason Starmer was among seven men sent to prison in April after he was convicted of drug conspiracy charges. Now as eighth member of the gang has been jailed video footage has been revealed of the moment £66 million worth of drugs was discovered by border officials.
Frank Eaton, 47, of Bag Lane, Ashbourne, has also now been sentenced at Burnley Crown Court. He got 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin.
The group were involved in a sophisticated international distribution network which would see vast amounts of the class A drugs make its way from Belgium to the UK, via the Netherlands.
The drugs would be concealed in agricultural equipment and within the trailers carrying them in the Belgium city of Tongeren before being driven to Rotterdam in Holland in the back of HGVs and setting sail for Hull.
From there it would travel to a location in Derbyshire operated by David Reece and Frank Eaton.
Reece and Eaton, who had both previously served prison time in Belgium for drugs importation charges, would then be in charge of organising its onward distribution to regional crime bosses.
The North West group was headed up by Julian Solomon, who was responsible for the arrangement, collection and onward delivery of that regions cocaine and heroin supply.
His associates Graham Rawling, Gerard Young and James Newhall would then assist Solomon in his efforts to distribute the drugs to local crime bosses.
Starmer had key contacts in the Midlands which he would utilise to make arrangements for the collection and onward distribution of the drugs for that region.
He was a key player in the trafficking network which saw vast amounts of class A drugs delivered to the UK. After the drugs haul was intercepted, he was found to have sent messages to his wife, which suggested the group believed they had been ripped off.
The messages, which were sent by Starmer from Belgium, said they were "on the hunt" and it was "a mission" after believing they had been ripped off, but in fact officials had seized the drugs.
Starmer texted home again saying they had met some "big men" who wanted answers.
Then, on May 21, Starmer flew back to the East Midlands and was subsequently stopped by police in an Audi on the East Lancashire Road near St Helens, Merseyside, on June 1.
They found a 1kg block of cocaine on the back seat of his car in a rucksack, which was of 83 per cent purity and worth £30,000.
Police also found several thousand pounds in cash and mobile phones, as well as documents which featured the name of a Belgian prison and one of the other conspirators Frank Eaton’s date of birth.
A search of Starmer’s home address resulted in a firearm and ammunition being recovered, along with large quantities of cash.
One of Starmer's contacts was Eaton who was Julian Solomon’s equivalent in the West Midlands, heading up the crime group for the region and responsible for the drugs operation in that area.
Starmer provided a link between the two crime bosses and he would often make trips to the North West to involve himself in criminality in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
Everton Bailey was the man responsible for the distribution of the imported product in the East Midlands once they had been prepared for regional dispatch. the court was told.
Unbeknown to the group, Greater Manchester Police's serious organised crime group was conducting a covert operation into their activities and on Wednesday, May 17, last year, a Scania HGV was stopped at the King George Docks in Hull by UK Border Force officials.
A subsequent search of the vehicle saw officers seize approximately 58kg of cocaine and almost 84kg of heroin - a combined street value of approximately £66,502,000.
Telephone records show that when the drugs did not show up at their intended location, Solomon, Starmer and Bailey frantically attempted to contact Eaton.
Suspecting that their international associates had ripped them off and kept the drugs for themselves, Eaton, Solomon and Starmer flew to Belgium the following day for an emergency meeting.
Upon his return to the UK, Solomon was arrested and remanded into custody at HMP Forest Bank where he was visited on May 26, 2017 by Jason Starmer and Graham Rawling.
The following day Starmer was observed by police having a panicked meeting with Rawling and James Newhall at a pub car park near Ormskirk, where they exchanged phones and papers.
He was then arrested in the St Helens area and found to have thousands of pounds in cash and a kilogram of cocaine in his car. A search of his home address resulted in a firearm and ammunition being recovered, along with large quantities of cash.
Eaton, who did not return to the UK following the crisis meeting, was arrested in Belgium by local authorities and extradited into GMP custody while the trial for his seven co-conspirators was on-going.
Detective Inspector Tony Norman, of Greater Manchester Police, said after the case: “These men operated one of the largest international drug importation networks that GMP has ever investigated with the seizure of over £66 million worth of drugs at Hull port - a key moment in our operation.
“Their offending didn’t just have a local impact on Greater Manchester; it reached across the UK and will no doubt have had a ripple effect in mainland Europe where their money was lining the pockets of crime bosses.
“We know how much misery local dealers can inflict on people’s lives however men like Eaton, Reece, Solomon and Starmer are the ones who are responsible for supplying those local dealers, enabling them to blight our communities and flood our streets with drugs.
“Our work to tackle local criminality is very important and alongside that we will continue to target those who operate at the very top so that we can shatter these organised crime networks and strangle the supply at a local level.
“This truly was an international team effort and I would like to thank the UK Borders Agency, the National Crime Agency and the Belgian authorities for the key support they have given us in achieving this outcome.
“I want the result today to send a clear message. It doesn’t matter how high up you are in a criminal outfit, if you are involved in the drugs supply trade in Greater Manchester, our incredibly dedicated team will ensure that you face prosecution are brought to justice.”
The men were sentenced as follows:
Frank Eaton (17/06/1970) of Bag Lane, Ashbourne, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 17 years in prison
Julian Solomon (05/05/1980) of Grove Lane, Hale, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Jason Starmer (22/11/1975) of HMP Liverpool, was pleaded guilty part way through his trial to conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm prior to being sentenced.
David Reece (08/08/1962) of Ludlam Ave, Nottinghamshire, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Everton Bailey (11/12/1960) of Mandarin Way, Derby, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Graham Rawling (16/05/1959) of Sussex Road, Southport, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin following a trial. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Gerrard Young (20/02/1970) of Heathwood Road, Manchester was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
James Newhall (08/10/1975) of Delph Common Road, Ormskirk in Lancashire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison.
