Drug gang linked to £5m haul and £140m cocaine plot

A Merseyside network used everyday spaces to move cocaine and launder profits, with authorities pursuing asset forfeiture.

Drug gang moves nearly £5 million through Beefeater car park and GP grounds

A court in Liverpool heard how a gang led by Darren Schofield built a large-scale operation to import cocaine into the UK from Sierra Leone. The group used the car park of a Beefeater and a nearby GP practice as meeting points for cocaine and cash, and they planned to move a shipment that could be worth up to £140 million on the street. The drugs were hidden inside a consignment of garri flour and intercepted at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk after detailed planning and encrypted communication.

In a Proceeds of Crime Act case, Schofield was found to have benefited by about £4.85 million, while his available assets were assessed at roughly £156,000. The court ordered the forfeiture of those assets, with enforcement possible on future funds. Several co-defendants faced long prison terms, including former boxer Carl Dilks and others linked to the import scheme. The investigation also traced communications on EncroChat and WhatsApp, revealing how the group coordinated deliveries, handovers in public spaces, and the use of shell companies to facilitate the operation.

This case shows how criminal networks embed themselves in ordinary life, using public venues and everyday logistics to disguise illegal trade. The mix of high-value drugs, encrypted chatter, and front companies highlights a shift toward financial sophistication as a key pressure point for law enforcement. Yet the sentences also expose how the justice system treats the proceeds of crime separately from the underlying violence and risk faced by communities where these operations unfold. The involvement of a former athlete as a broker underscores how reputations can be repurposed to lend legitimacy to illicit networks.

Highlights

Justice moves through the maze of modern crime, tracing money as closely as it tracks drugs.