£1.59bn drugs ring: Organised Crime Group jailed for a combined total of 58 years.

Six members of an organised crime group have been jailed for smuggling into the UK 15 tonnes of cocaine worth £1.59bn in boxes of frozen chicken.

Stephen Rayner, 31, Cherie-Anne Rayner, 30, Liam Harrington, 39, Megan Budden, 23, Steven Gibson, 41, and Darren Hunter, 30, have been sentenced today for a combined total of 58 years for their roles in a criminal network which imported high-purity cocaine from the Mexican cartel ‘Nueva Generacion’ and then distributed it around the UK.

In what is thought to be the largest drugs operation in England and Wales, the group worked for a drugs kingpin under the alias ‘Fendi’ and operated by smuggling the drugs in boxes of frozen chicken, before being repackaged and sold to dealers.

Michael Quinn, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside said: “Motivated purely by greed, these offenders were involved in a sophisticated criminal operation to import and distribute an extortionate amount of Class A drugs into the UK – the largest case the CPS has ever prosecuted.

“Working side-by-side with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, we were able to meticulously unravel the full extent of their criminal activity and build a strong case to bring these offenders to justice.

“We hope today’s sentencing sends a strong message to criminals; there is nowhere to hide from investigation and prosecution.

“Working closely with the police, we are determined to dismantle major organised crime groups like this one from top to bottom, whenever our legal test is met.

“We will be pursuing confiscation proceedings to recover the money they made from their criminal activity.”

The operation began to unravel when police from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit raided the home of Cherie-Anne Rayner and Liam Harrington in Beeston, Leeds on 10 September 2022.

There police discovered in a locked room blocks of cocaine with an estimated street value of £14million and crystal methamphetamine with an estimated street value of £4.95million, alongside other paraphernalia used to repackage the drugs, cash, bank cards and passports.

Stephen Rayner was described as a ‘lieutenant-type’, overseeing the management of the operation, which used the cover of a food delivery company to smuggle and distribute the cocaine from an industrial unit in Redditch.  

Megan Budden was arrested on 10 November 2022, when police raided her home finding the entrance barricaded before seizing holdalls of Class A drugs worth an estimated £5.8million.

In the months September to December 2022, the police arrested other members of the drugs ring, putting a stop to their enterprise.

Police surveillance, CCTV footage and mobile phone data showed the extent of the operation spanning the lengths of England and into Scotland, with Steven Gibson and Darren Hunter working as couriers between the ‘Scottish guys’ and the ‘Brum lot’.

It is estimated the total street value of the drugs Steven Gibson transported was worth between £121 million and £200 million.

All the defendants pleaded guilty at hearings earlier this year and have today (10 November 2023) at Sheffield Crown Court been sentenced.

For conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, Stephen Rayner was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, Cherie-Anne Rayner was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, and Steven Gibson was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Darren Hunter was sentenced to six years imprisonment for possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A.

Liam Harrington was sentenced to three years imprisonment for participating in the activities of an organised crime group and converting criminal property, and Megan Budden was sentenced to two years imprisonment for participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.

A further defendant Mazafer Hussain, 43, of Foxton Road, Birmingham, denies conspiracy to supply cocaine and will stand trial in April.