SALFORD DRUGS GANG JAILED AFTER BRUTAL DELIVERY STUNT SEES £1MILL OF COCAINE ROBBED IN MERSEYSIDE MACHETE ATTACK

Four men from a Salford drugs gang responsible for orchestrating a fake delivery drop-off as a disguise for brutally robbing over a million pounds' worth of cocaine in a bloody axe and machete attack in Liverpool have been jailed for a combined total of 43 years.

The group were sentenced today (Friday 18 August) at Manchester Crown Court following a comprehensive two-year probe by detectives in our Serious and Organised Crime Group (SOCG).

The court was told that the men were involved in an organised crime family consisting of three brothers from the Cox family supplying multi-kilogram amounts of cocaine and cannabis to distributors and dealers operating throughout the North West throughout 2020.

Headed by middle brother Jason Cox (37), from Warrington, the gang were exposed by the takedown of the encrypted communications platform - EncroChat, which was compromised in June 2020 - where detectives found evidence the group were involved in the trafficking of over 20 kilos of cocaine and supplying more than 50 kilos of cannabis.

Also uncovered by the EncroChat bust was the Coxs' successful plot the previous month to rob two men in a house in Liverpool of around 30 kilos of cocaine worth an approximate value of £1.2million.

Footage from a nearby property showed a van pull-up outside of the target address with Ben Monks-Gorton (31), from Burnley, dressed in a high-vis jacket purporting to be a delivery driver with a phalanx of three men dressed in black - Cox, his brother Craig (34) and Richard Caswell (41).

The men went into the house and attacked two men with machetes and axes - inflicting life-changing injuries to the older of the two - before leaving with a bag of the cocaine stash just three minutes later.

In the following hours, the OCG began to arrange the distribution of the stolen drugs as they travelled back towards Warrington - with courier Michael Nevin (36) instructed to take 10 kilos to a fellow Manchester-based gang.

Messages also sent via EncroChat showed Jason asking older brother Lee Cox (39) if he wanted a kilo 'for free' after they had 'tracked them (victims) up' and had to 'chop the c*** up badly in his gaffe'.

Meanwhile, police from Manchester attending a flat in Fallowfield decided to search Nevin's property and found him hiding in the cellar with his iPhone in one hand and EncroChat device in the other.

Nevin was arrested after officers seized over £28k in cash, a food bag of cannabis, weighing scales with class A drug residue on them, and handwritten notes that included amounts owed by drug 'customers'.

Later that day, officers searched a storage unit in Bury where a further £30k's worth of cocaine was recovered - later found to be some of the quantity that was stolen in the Liverpool robbery.

Just a month later in June, the compromising of EncroChat by international law enforcement agencies saw us conduct dozens of warrants to target scores of suspects across Greater Manchester - included the Cox OCG.

The realms of chat on the encrypted network provided detectives with a treasure trove of evidence to not only prove the men's involvement in the Liverpool robbery, but also the prior and subsequent movement and dealing of class A and B drugs to distributors across the North West of England.

Craig was the only one of the Cox brothers to be present when officers struck at his home in Weaste, and he was arrested on suspicion of drug offences after already messaging some of the gang on EncroChat that he would smash his handset up.

Caswell, Nevin and Monks-Gorton - whose DNA had already come back on a forensic hit from a discarded surgical mask left at the scene of the Liverpool robbery - were arrested in the following weeks as the group's drug conspiracy began to unravel.

Cannabis dealer Jack Brownsill (24), from Warrington, was tracked down and arrested nine months later before detectives completed the sweep-up of the gang by extraditing Jason and Lee Cox from the Spanish town of Alicante where they had been arrested in July 2021 when driving in a hire car.

Investigators had already identified Michael Martin (37), from Lower Broughton, as being involved in the conspiracy despite not having an Encro device himself; he was sentenced to three years in jail on 25 November 2021 after admitting one count of money laundering.

Three other men had also previously been jailed in connection with the investigation.

Michael Nevin was sentenced to 9 years 8 months on 25 April 2022 for also admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Ben Monks-Gorton, was jailed for 6 years on 25 April 2022 after admitting conspiracy to commit robbery.

Jack Brownsill denied conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property, and being concerned in supplying cannabis before being convicted of all three offences by a jury following a trial in February 2022 - he has now begun a 4 year 3 month sentence.

Now the rest of the group have been jailed for a total of 43 years.

Jason Cox was ordered to serve 14 years and 8 months behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Craig Cox was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in jail after also pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, conspiracy to possess criminal property and conspiracy to commit robbery; he also admitted two breaches of a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

Lee Cox, from Swinton, has been sentenced to 8 years for admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Richard Caswell, from the Kirkdale area of Liverpool, received 7 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and diamorphine, possessing criminal property, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

All the men will have to serve a minimum of two-thirds of their sentence due to the severity of their offending.

Operation Venetic - the nationwide crackdown led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into the criminal use of EncroChat - is the UK's biggest ever law enforcement operation.

So far in Greater Manchester, over £2.5million in cash has been seized as well as nearly a dozen firearms, over 1100 rounds of ammunition, over 12 kilos of class A and 25 kilos of class B drugs, and over £300k of assets including luxury jewellery and vehicles.

Well over 200 people have now been detained by GMP since the launch of Operation Venetic by the NCA in July 2020, and more than 150 of those have subsequently been charged for a range of drug, firearms and money laundering offences.

Detective Inspector Roger Smethurst, of GMP's Serious & Organised Crime Group, said:

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"The Cox Organised Crime Group are ruthless, career criminals who have successfully been brought to justice.

"Operation Venetic provided a valuable insight into their multi-kilo drug dealing and other criminal operations including a brutal robbery in Liverpool.

"GMP and our law enforcement partners relentlessly pursued this group even when they attempted to evade capture both in London and Spain.

"Due to the quality of the evidence put before the court they were left with no choice but to plead guilty to their crimes. Communities in the North West will be safer with this group behind bars for many years to come."