Gang members who flooded Greater Manchester with cocaine and amphetamines are jailed

Members of a gang which supplied £2.5m of cocaine have been locked up.

Daniel Buckley, 35, of Hulmes Road, Newton Heath has been jailed for 16 years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply amphetamine, entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement and possessing amphetamine with intent to supply, at Manchester Crown Court.

Buckley was also charged with conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition.

Mark Bowles, 36, of John Street, Failsworth has been jailed for 14 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply amphetamine, entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement and possessing amphetamine with intent to supply.

Michael Mooney, 37, of Church View, Failsworth was jailed for seven years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and possessing cocaine with intent to supply and entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement.

Buckley played a leading role in the organised crime group in Oldham and Mark Bowles and Michael Mooney were trusted employees of his who would act on his every demand. The group were capable of supplying multi-kilos of class A drugs on a weekly basis, with purchases ranging from £35,000 to £42,000 per kilogram.

Following analysis of encrypted messages it became evident that between December 2019 and June 2020 Buckley had purchased and supplied 84.5kg of cocaine, having paid £2,468,230 for the drugs over the period.

Between March 2020 and June 2020, both Buckley and Bowles were also involved in the multi-kilo supply of amphetamine, having being involved in the supply of the drug up until the day they were arrested.

The group would operate with Buckley arranging for Bowles to collect kilograms of cocaine and amphetamine and then have him distribute them in varying deals. Bowles would also be responsible for collecting cash payments and counting it, all under the instruction of Buckley, before reporting back to him with the amounts of cash collected and outstanding.

Once enough cash had been collected, Bowles would then be ordered to take large quantities of cash to specific locations and hand it over to Buckley's suppliers.

Further analysis of the encrypted messages showed that Mooney was being used to store large quantities of the cocaine and cash in a safe in his house, being paid with a bit of cocaine for personal use and £100 week to do so.

The safe was later used to store thousands of pounds worth of cash when Buckley and Bowles had too much money and needed to store it separately.

On October 12, 2021, officers executed warrants at Buckley and Bowles' home addresses and attended Mooney's home address and all three males were subsequently arrested.

Searches of their properties uncovered various items including 25kg of amphetamine stored under the stairs of Bowles' house, 125g block of cocaine in Mooney's bedroom, and various designer watches, clothes and expensive cars.

Detective Constable Donna Youngjohns of GMP's Oldham Challenger Team said: "These three men were operating a sophisticated drugs operation and successfully buying and distributing large quantities of class A drugs across Greater Manchester.

"Despite their attempts to hide their criminality using sophisticated and expensive Encrochat technology we were able to track them down and shatter their illusion of safety.

"Not only have we seized a considerable quantity of cash and class A drugs and stop it reaching our streets, but we've now put three men behind bars for a considerable number of years, putting a swift end to their drug dealing days.

"GMP is dedicated to relentlessly pursuing and disrupting serious criminality, and we are determined to continue to bring criminals to justice and remove them from the law-abiding communities that they are harming."

If you are concerned about criminal activity within your area, you can report this to us directly on 101 or by reporting information using our online report tool at www.gmp.police.uk.

You can also report information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.