A high-ranking member of an organised crime group that trafficked drugs between Scotland and England has been convicted.
Stephen Earle from Crosby, Liverpool, was arrested by the Polícia Judiciária Fugitive Team in Faro in January this year at the request of the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The 52-year-old then returned to the United Kingdom on Monday, March 18.
The NCA says he travelled abroad in July 2020 and remained in Portugal to avoid capture after officers apprehended fellow OCG members in March 2021.
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Earle worked closely with his cousin Terence Earle, 50, who was jailed for 16-and-a-half years in April 2023.
The pair used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to run the criminal enterprise, with the help of subordinates Stanley Feerick, 70, and Stephen King, 50.
Both men have also been sentenced for their part in the Class A operation and the creation of an amphetamine lab in Scotland.
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Terence and Stephen used the EncroChat handles 'ThickBoar' and 'Octo-hand' to discuss prices for buying and selling the drugs as well as the logistics of trafficking.
The two men shipped at least 10 kilos of heroin and seven kilos of cocaine, with the former moved from Merseyside to Motherwell and the later in the opposite direction.
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Now, Earle has pleaded guilty to four drugs supply charges at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, April 16.
He will be sentenced on June 14, 2024.
The investigation - carried out by the NCA - formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK NCA-led law enforcement response to the takedown of the EncroChat service in July 2020.
NCA Branch Commander Charles Lee said: “Today’s guilty plea shows that there is no hiding place for criminals who seek to avoid arrest by living abroad.
“The NCA has the international reach to find you and make you pay for your crimes.
“Stephen Earle was an integral part of this dangerous criminal organisation, which posed a serious threat to communities across Scotland and Merseyside.
“The drugs they trafficked would have fuelled violence and exploitation in these areas, so bringing this criminal group to justice has helped protect the public.”
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