Gang member extradited from Portugal jailed 11 years for Class A drug offences

A leader behind an organised crime group (OCG), which trafficked heroin and cocaine into England and Scotland, has been jailed following his extradition from Portugal.

Stephen Earle, 52, was sentenced to 11 years and four months imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court today (2 August 2024), after pleading guilty to being involved in a conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

In July 2020, the defendant travelled to Portugal and stayed there in an attempt to evade detection by the authorities.

However, as a result of collaborative working between the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), National Crime Agency (NCA) and Portuguese authorities, Stephen Earle was extradited back to the UK on 18 March 2024 to face criminal charges.

Stephen Earle helped to oversee the shipping of at least 10kg of heroin and 7kg of cocaine between England and Scotland, with his cousin Terence Earle, 50.

Terence Earle was jailed for 16 and a half years at Liverpool Crown Court in April last year. He appeared for sentencing alongside fellow members of the Merseyside-based gang, Stanley Feerick, 69, Stephen King, 50, Lee Baxter, 50 and Stephen Singleton, 38.

Together, the group conspired to import, supply and produce controlled drugs.

The OCG used Encrochat, an encrypted messaging service, to discuss the logistics of their illicit business.  

The encrypted software was infiltrated as part of a major law enforcement operation, under Operation Venetic, and incriminating messages from devices linked to organised crime groups were revealed.

Paula Lloyd, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Stephen Earle, with his cousin Terence, helped to orchestrate a sophisticated criminal operation which saw the large-scale supply of dangerous drugs in England and Scotland.      

“Despite his considerable efforts to evade the consequences of his criminality, the CPS, working with the NCA and their International Liaison Unit, was able to secure his extradition from Portugal so that he could come back and face justice, and we are grateful to the Portuguese authorities for their assistance.

“The CPS worked closely and effectively with the NCA to dismantle this organised crime group, building strong cases which resulted in several members of the gang being convicted.

“We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings against Stephen Earle to recover the money he made from his criminality.”

More than 1,000 individuals have been successfully convicted so far under Operation Venetic as a result of material obtained from the criminally dedicated communications platform Encrochat.