Two brothers saw their drugs empire come crashing down after police seized £20m worth of cocaine from a car on the M6 motorway.
Alan Tobin, 51, and John Tobin, 40, were supplying huge amounts of cocaine to Anthony Cullen, 33, and 30-year-old Jamie Oldroyd’s organised crime gangs.
Cullen was handed a 27 year sentence in January 2019 and Oldroyd is also now serving a sentence of 14 years and three months for cocaine dealing.
The Tobins, from Widnes, also instructed Jamie Simpson, 33, to deliver £20m of cocaine on their behalf from Kent to Warrington.
Simpson was handed a sentence of 11 years and six months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
John Tobin’s DNA was found deposited on the bubble wrap of one of the drug blocks he watched being placed into boxes during the packing process.
Detectives seized the drugs on the M6 motorway on August 2, 2018, in an astonishing swoop when a 186kg haul was recovered.
Astonishing footage, previously reported by the ECHO, showed Jamie Simpson being forced out of a vehicle and made to lie on the motorway.
Footage captured from a police helicopter showed the moment officers stopped a blue van and a Nissan Qashqai following close behind.
It was the largest ever seizure of cocaine on land in the UK.
The Tobin brothers also sold cannabis, heroin, ketamine and cocaine to other gangs in Scotland, London, North Wales, Cornwall, West Yorkshire, Cumbria, Manchester and Humberside.
While Alan and John were in command of the criminal enterprise, they needed the help of Robbie Broughton, Simon Leech and Brian McQuillan to do the day-to-day running of their business.
And to distance themselves from links to organised crime, they recruited 29-year-old Leech to act as a conduit.
Broughton’s role was to collect cash from the organised crime leaders who had been supplied drugs by the Tobins.
The 38-year-old also enforced debts and made threats on their behalf and informed the brothers of problems that were arising.
It meant 51-year-old McQuillan was responsible for couriering large amounts of cash across the UK.
Police said the criminal organisation was "smooth and successful" until a three-pronged operation was launched into Tobin's customers.
Given the names Operation Bullfight, Operation Samurai and Operation Dreadnought, it targeted Lee Stoba, aged 47, Anthony Cullen and Jamie Oldroyd.
As undercover officers kept watch, they saw John Tobin meet with Cullen, Broughton and Robert Bibby at a countryside café, where they discussed the supply of drugs.
Alan Tobin was also observed meeting with Jamie Oldroyd and Jamie Simpson at a café in Warrington to talk over the onward supply of class A drugs to organised crime gangs in Carlisle, Liverpool, Scunthorpe and Sussex.
The operations led to large amounts of drugs and money being seized by police and resulted in debts owed to the Tobin brothers that were too big for the day-to-day employees to deal with.
This led to the Tobins having to become more hands on and, on one occasion, Alan was seen meeting with Cullen at a pub car park in Warrington where a heated argument took place between them.
But the criminal ring was ultimately taken down on September 9, last year, when raids were executed in Widnes, Warrington and St Helens and all the men were arrested and subsequently charged.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Evans, from Cheshire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “Taking down the mainstream supplier of drugs to three big organised crime groups operating in Warrington was the final piece of the jigsaw.
“The brothers sat at the very top of the chain.
"They were provided with greater protection to prevent them from being identified as leaders of the organised crime group.
"At first they sat back and reaped the rewards of their criminality by displaying a lavish lifestyle while employing Broughton, Leech and McQuillan to run the business.
“For a while their criminal enterprise was seen to be getting bigger and bigger until we began running a number of operations on the gangs they were supplying drugs to.
“Once we started seizing large quantities of drugs and cash, problems arose, and the Tobin’s soon began to surface, as huge debts were owed.
"The colossal seizure of 186kg of cocaine saw their reputation ruined.
“The investigation team has worked relentlessly to collate evidence that shows the brothers’ involvement in these conspiracies over a period of up to nine years.
"Their hard work and determination has paid dividends and resulted in five guilty pleas and justice finally catching up with them all.”
The five men all pleaded guilty at earlier separate court hearings.
Alan Tobin, 51, previously of Regency Park, Widnes, pleaded guilty on 20 January 2021 to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply ketamine
John Tobin, 40, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty on 20 January 2021 to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply ketamine
Robbie Broughton, 38, of Breccia Gardens, St Helens, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to supply ketamine
Brian McQuillan, 51, of Buttermarket Street, Warrington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine
Simon Leech, 29 of Brindley Avenue, Warrington, pleaded guilty on 15 March 2021 to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
