Man jailed for over 10 years for his involvement in a multi-million pound drugs conspiracy

A man has been jailed for a total of 10 years 8 months for his involvement in a Class A and B drugs conspiracy estimated to be worth in the region of £800,000. 

Yesterday (Monday 24 November) Liverpool Crown Court heard that Kieran Tasker, 31, of Campbell Drive, Roby, was using the EncroChat Handles ‘Palesky’ and ‘Piratekangaroo’ and was involved in agreements to source and supply multikilogram amounts of Class A and B controlled drugs across the whole of Merseyside.

Tasker was arrested by Matrix officers on behalf of Merseyside’s Organised Crime Partnership (OCP) at his home address in April. The Merseyside OCP is made up of officers from the National Crime Agency and Merseyside Police.

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin); two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs (cannabis and cannabis resin) and conspiracy to conceal/disguise/convert/transfer criminal property. The drugs involved amounted to 30kg of cocaine and heroin and 3kg of cannabis.

Class A Drugs found by officers during the investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts said: “Tasker played a leading role in relation to Class A drugs. He operated as a commercial business, working at times it appears in partnership with another person to manage the distribution of large amounts of illicit drugs and share large profits.

“The commercial nature of the operation is demonstrated in the quantities of Class A alone but also in the fact that the ‘business’ operated across the Merseyside area and was operating effectively every day.

“Our investigation was also able to uncover that Tasker bought a van which had been modified to include a secret hide."

DCI Roberts added: “We know the misery caused by the sale and distribution of drugs across communities.

“Merseyside OCP officers are committed to protecting the public by stopping the flow of firearms and drugs into Merseyside’s criminal markets and county lines networks.”