A court sentenced five men to a total of 47 years in prison
Shaun Quinn was jailed for 12 years for supplying Class A drugs and possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (Image: Merseyside Police)
A gang of drug dealers used Royal Mail to transport 47kg of heroin from Liverpool to Cornwall.
The gang are estimated to have made £4 million in illegal income over a two year period. They were sentenced to a total of 47 years by Truro Crown Court today, March 1.
Shaun Quinn, 37, of Greenhill Road, Allerton was jailed for 12 years; Simon Mitchell, 34, of Lower Fore Street, Saltash, was jailed for 10 years; Daniel Stanton, 34, of Finch Meadow Close, Fazakerley was jailed for nine years; Daniel Bridson, 46, Round Hey, Stockbridge Village was jailed for eight years; and John Arnaud, 52, of Wentworth Way, Saltash, was jailed for eight years.
The group were convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. Quinn and Bridson were also sentenced for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
They were arrested on July 6 when warrants were simultaneously carried out in East Cornwall and Liverpool by police. The men pleaded guilty to the offences after being charged.
Prior to the warrants being carried out, police had been gathering intelligence and information about the group’s activities. This included capturing them on CCTV posting parcels and monitoring where these were being sent to.
As police forced entry on a property in Liverpool where Stanton and Quinn were present, the men ran out the back door and threw items over the fence to get rid of them. This was captured by a police drone and the items were recovered, including approximately 1kg of heroin and a parcel containing a large quantity of cash.
Clothing, drugs, cash and other paraphernalia was also found at other addresses that were searched, further linking the men to the activities and to each other.
An expert witness in the case estimated that the gang trafficked in the region of 47kg of heroin into Cornwall in 45 parcels. Between August 2021 and July 2023, estimated profits of up to £4million were sent back to Liverpool.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “The group used the Royal Mail Parcel Service to transport drugs into Cornwall and then send their illegal earnings back to Liverpool. By employing this tactic they were able to avoid the repeated courier journeys that we usually see as a key feature of County Lines drug dealing into the region.
“Between August 2021 and July 2023, a total of 45 parcels were received into Devon & Cornwall, amounting to drugs with a combined weight of 47.7kg. This number of transactions, and the volume of drugs being transported, clearly indicates the level of demand for drugs in Cornwall that was being met by the group. It also shows the scale of the illegal income they would have received – around £4m over the two-year period.
“Following the arrest of Shaun Quinn, two drugs presses and a substantial amount of cocaine was seized, so it is clear that a significant cocaine dealing enterprise has also been disrupted.
“Drug-related crime is corrosive – it damages not only those involved in buying and selling, but also the communities in which they carry out their trade. The CPS is committed to working with the police to disrupt the supply of drugs by bringing those involved to justice and ensuring they do not profit from their criminality.”
Detective Sergeant Gerard Farley from Merseyside Police said: “Officers from Project Medusa – Merseyside’s initiative to tackle county lines drug dealing and criminal exploitation, continue to work alongside colleagues from Devon and Cornwall to close county lines and safeguard vulnerable individuals from the grip of toxic gangs.
“Today’s sentencing shows the success of working together with other forces to take suspected county lines offenders off our streets.
“Our work to catch these criminals and bring them to justice continues on a daily basis and I would ask anyone who has information about this kind of activity to come forward so action can be taken.”
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Jolliff from Devon & Cornwall Police said: "This was a lengthy investigation which concluded with a day of action on Thursday 6th July 2023, where in excess of 50 colleagues from both forces combined to carry out simultaneous search warrants in Cornwall and Liverpool.
“This operation has disrupted very significant amounts of class A drugs from arriving into our communities and I’m grateful for the collaboration between both forces to combat this organised crime group. The sentences imposed reflect the seriousness of their criminality and should assist in discouraging others from conducting similar activity.”
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