Latest news with #TarianROCU
Daily Record
06-06-2025
- Daily Record
Scots drugs mule involved in £7m heroin plot ordered to pay back £42,000 dirty cash
Christopher Heaney, from Anstruther in Fife, was jailed for nine years for his involvement in a £7m cross-border heroin conspiracy last year. A Scots drugs mule who flooded the UK with millions of pounds worth of heroin has been ordered to pay back just £42,000. Christopher Heaney, 48, from Anstruther in Fife, was jailed for nine years for his involvement in a £7m cross-border heroin conspiracy last year. Heaney, alongside four others, were busted by cops following the arrest of a former police officer in May 2022. Steven Creasey, an ex-police officer who had also worked for the Royal Navy, was stopped while driving his vehicle to Fife having already travelled from his home in Cardiff to Liverpool the same day. A drugs dog sniffed out a professionally installed hide under the passenger seat of his car, which was found to contain a 5kg stash of heroin and one kilogram of adulterant. A burner phone also found in his possession revealed that the former cop had been operating as a professional drugs courier engaged by the heads of a gang based in Liverpool. The police investigation, known as Operation Solon, led to the arrests of Christopher Brannan, 38, and Stephen Hopkins, 59, who collected wholesale amounts of heroin. The drugs were then distributed for onward supply across the UK by Heaney, Creasey, Kevin Thomson, 45, and Jeffrey Hickson, 61. Brannan would launder the profits through the bank account of his partner Kirsty Murphy, 36. Subsequent raids were carried out at homes in Cardiff, Liverpool, Scotland and Northumberland towards the end of 2022. Significant items were found at the addresses, including expensive jewellery, heroin, cocaine, adulterants, opium, cannabis grows, and metal moulds for pressing powder into blocks. All five defendants pleaded guilty prior to trial at Cardiff Crown Court in February last year. The gang members were jailed for a combination of 57 years and 2 months. A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing was held at the same court earlier this week. It heard how despite profiting around £125,000 as part of the operation, Heaney was ordered to pay back a fraction of £42,000 Judge Lucy Crowther ordered him to pay the sum within three months. If he fails to do so, he will face an additional 18 months in jail. Speaking after sentencing, Detective Inspector Christopher McGlinchey of Police Scotland said: "This case underlines our collaborative efforts to dismantle organised crime networks that span regions. "The significant amount of drugs trafficked by this group had the potential to inflict serious harm on our communities. "The success of Operation Solon demonstrates strong partnership working between Police Scotland, Tarian ROCU and other partner agencies. It also reinforces our commitment to the UK's Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. "Organised crime has no place in our society and we will continue to work relentlessly to bring those responsible to justice."
The Independent
30-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Man who sold weight loss pills made from poison jailed
A man who sold weight-loss pills online which were made from poison has been jailed for three years. Kyle Enos, 33, was charged with multiple drug offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates' Court earlier this year. Enos, from Maesteg, Bridgend, in South Wales, had previously been in prison for selling fentanyl online. Soon after being released, he bought the drug 2,4-dinotrophenol, or DNP. DNP is an industrial chemical which is poisonous to humans and has been banned for human consumption in the UK. It can cause serious physical side effects and even death in some cases. Enos was arrested by officers from Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, in July 2024 after they received information from the National Crime Agency (NCA). Enos purchased the pure form sodium salt of 2,4-dinitrophenol powder from China via the dark web. He then manufactured the pills using cutting agents and a pill press in his bedroom. He advertised the pills and other regulated medications on a website he created. Enos would ship the products, disguised as vitamins and minerals, both domestically within the UK and internationally. He was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday to 36 months in prison for multiple counts relating to the supply of a regulated substance and failure to comply with a serious crime prevention order. Detective constable Kieran Morris, of Tarian ROCU, said: 'Operation Guazuma was a proactive partnership investigation with the NCA, the National Food Crime Unit, the Ministry of Defence, HM Prison and Probation Service, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, and South Wales Police. 'The swift arrest of Enos and the removal of these poisonous diet pills from the open market was our utmost priority. Enos was supplying the pills with no safety precautions in place, and no advice on dosages. This could have led to buyers becoming extremely ill or even dying. 'Tarian ROCU are committed to safeguarding members of the public not only within our region, but across the United Kingdom and beyond. The sentence handed down to Enos today should serve as a warning to others engaging in similar criminality.'
South Wales Argus
08-05-2025
- South Wales Argus
Tarian probe sees man jailed for couriering cash and drugs
Nathaniel Armani, 46, from Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, was sentenced at Merthyr Crown Court on Tuesday, May 6. He was found guilty of couriering cash and drugs on behalf of an organised crime group (OCG). Armani was caught as part of Operation Tender, a proactive investigation led by Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales. The investigation focused on the supply of Class A and Class B drugs into the southern Wales region. Armani acted as a courier for an OCG operating from a base in the Metropolitan Police area. The group was responsible for the wholesale supply of multi-kilo quantities of cocaine and cannabis throughout the UK. On Thursday, October 12, 2023, at the request of Tarian ROCU, officers from Cumbria Police intercepted Armani as he drove his Audi A8 south on the M6. A search of his vehicle found £200,000 in cash and multiple mobile phones. His mobile phones were examined and found to contain evidence, including images and videos, of his criminal activities and his connection to the OCG. Armani had already pleaded guilty to money laundering and drug supply offences at earlier hearings. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, namely 11kgs of cocaine, being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs, namely 603kgs of cannabis, and transferring criminal property, namely just under £1.7 million in cash. The combined wholesale value of the drugs supplied by Armani was just under £3 million. His Honour, Judge Jeremy Jenkins KC, called it a 'quite staggering amount of cannabis.' Detective Constable Sean Meyrick, of Tarian ROCU, said: "The arrest of Armani demonstrates that Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit will pursue offenders across the UK." He called the sentencing a 'significant' disruption to organised criminality and said it 'has had a knock-on effect on the supply and distribution of Class A and B drugs into the southern Wales region.'
