Mark Holmes jailed for 17 years for £6 million cocaine plot

Mark Holmes, 46, of Derbyshire Hill Road, Parr was sentenced to 17 years in prison for conspiracy to import Class A drugs, yesterday, Wednesday, April 23.

Co-accused John Blake, 48, of Avon Road, Ashton-In-Makerfield was sentenced to 13 years and seven months for the same offence.

Co-accused John Blake was jailed for 13 years and seven months

Around 8pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, officers came across the duo parked at the side of a road in Derbyshire in a heavy goods vehicle which had broken down.

Officers spoke with Holmes and Blake and suspected they were carrying drugs.

The pair were arrested and taken into custody.

The HGV was seized and an initial search revealed a sophisticated encrypted mobile phone containing a foreign SIM card.

Holmes and Blake were interviewed and denied any wrongdoing.

They were released while officers arranged another more detailed search of the vehicle, which revealed cocaine with an estimated street value of £6 million, hidden in a custom made compartment within the trailer chassis.

The hide was opened using an adapted allen key in the cab of the HGV.

Officers from GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group launched an investigation into the pair, and their conspiracy soon began to unravel when research revealed numerous unusual business and travel arrangements.

Drugs found in the HGV

On Tuesday, September 4, 2018, Holmes travelled from Portsmouth to Bilbao, Spain via the ferry in a white HGV truck.

Telephone data revealed that over the following days Holmes and Blake were in regular contact whilst Holmes was out of the country and Blake remained in the UK.

On Thursday, September 6, 2018 Blake took a flight from Liverpool to Malaga.

Using their telephone data, officers could see that Holmes and Blake met up in Spain and travelled together through France with Holmes driving and Blake as passenger in the truck.

They returned to the UK on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 via Dover.

After his release Holmes was not aware police had found the drugs and police claim he was falsely confident they would not find them.

Over the next week he repeatedly pestered the officers for his truck to be returned, and on one day he called the investigation team more than 20 times.

Officers decided to see how confident Holmes was by returning the HGV to him, and covertly following him to see exactly what he did next.

On Monday, September 24, 2018 Holmes attended GMP’s vehicle compound where officers returned the HGV to him, even though it still hadn’t been repaired and was undrivable.

Holmes used a HGV recovery service and took the HGV to Knowsley.

The cocaine was hidden within the chassis area and hidden by metal plates in the HGV

A short time later, a Ford C-Max driven by another man arrived, with John Blake as a passenger.

Officers continued to watch as Blake and Holmes parked the HGV up and began searching it themselves.

Holmes, along with assistance from Blake, was seen entering the pallet compartment of the HGV, removing the metal plates and allowing access to the hide within the chassis area.

Holmes then discovered the drugs were missing from the hide, just as officers swiftly moved in and arrested the men, despite Holmes trying to make a last ditch attempt to escape.

Detective Inspector Lee Griffin, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: “It’s thanks to the hard work of all the officers in this case, along with numerous partner agencies, that these criminals have been stopped from deluging our streets with such a huge amount of drugs.

“Drugs destroy relationships, blight communities and wreck the lives not only of drug users but also of those people caught up in the illicit supply chains.

“Those who benefit from supplying illegal drugs to vulnerable people deserve no place in our society, and our community is a safer place with them behind bars.

“I hope this sentencing sends a clear message that we will pursue those persons who supply harmful drugs and we will go to great lengths to bring them to justice.”