A convicted drug dealer used his international contacts to join forces with an established gang boss on his release from jail.
Michael Hailwood was released in late 2019 after serving part of a 22 year prison sentence.
He was on the outside for less than a year before being arrested in connection with his latest exploits.
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Hailwood was part of a gang that used people from Eastern Europe as mules to smuggle South American cocaine into the UK.
Operating from the Netherlands, he oversaw the smugglers for a North West gang believed to have trafficked drugs worth more than £10m.
Between October and December of 2007, police in the Netherlands used wiretaps to listen to the phone calls of Hailwood and his associates and learn about their operation.
He was eventually caught in a car that contained a stash of cocaine and went on to admit conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, receiving his 22-year term in 2010.
On his release on licence in late 2019 he went straight back into the drugs trade by teaming up with Mark Cavanagh.
Cavanagh, original from Wallasey, called on wholesalers from Merseyside, Manchester and beyond to make sure his stocks of heroin and crack cocaine could meet demand in Ellesmere Port and the Lache area of Chester, two areas where the market was effectively under his control.
Detectives believe he may have sold almost 50kgs of Class A drugs across the two operations, raking in as much as £2.3m.
Cavanagh’s success stemmed from being able to offer substances of greater purity than his rivals and, undercover officers found, generously filling street-level deals so customers got more drugs, of better quality, than they would get for the same price from others.
His reputation grew to the extent that addicts were travelling into Ellesmere Port from across North Wales to get their fix from his dealers.
His strength to overcome rivals stemmed from his contact book.
Cavanagh operated via EncroChat, the shadowy communications network said by police to have been beloved by gangsters.
When an international operation infiltrated the system and exposed the messages shared by its users, they offered an incredible insight into Cavanagh’s operation.
Messages showed that across just three days in June 2020, he told of selling two kilos of high-purity cocaine for £37,000 each, refused to buy kilos from another wholesaler because their asking price was too high, and ordered four kilograms of cocaine on credit - a deal that would cost him more than £130,000.
He also boasted that he had been "grafting" for 15 years.
Detectives also uncovered evidence Cavanagh had started to wire money to Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, one of the world's most prominent areas of cocaine distribution.
The transfers started in early 2020 and were for hundreds of pounds, leading to speculation he was starting to make contacts in South America and perhaps ordering samples of drugs.
Detectives familiar with Cavanagh’s case believe he was able to make this international leap with the help of Hailwood.
Released from prison shortly before the transfers began, they suspect Hailwood, looking to re-establish himself on the scene, had teamed up with Cavanagh - offering him access to foreign associates.
That they were a team is in no doubt. Hailwood’s return to the drugs industry was only uncovered when the Cheshire Police detectives tracking Cavanagh began to see them travelling together.
Their partnership was confirmed via EncroChat messages that showed Cavanagh - who used the codename HeadFluffy - and Hailwood - aka CardinalTrunk - were in business together.
Phone footage seized when both were arrested under Cheshire Police’s Operation Olympia included a selfie of the pair and a video from Hailwood’s device in which they listened to dance music while apparently waiting to receive cash from an associate.
Both were arrested in June 2020 and have since been locked up.
Cavanagh, aged 30 and of Foxdene, Ellesmere Port, when he was sentenced in 2020, received 14 years and six months for conspiracy to supply Class A (heroin and crack cocaine) and dangerous driving.
Hailwood, 51 and of Cherry Tree Road in Huyton, was jailed earlier this month. He received 16 years after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Following Hailwood’s sentence hearing, Detective Sergeant Ian Watson, of Cheshire Police, said: “This started at street level, focusing on Cavanagh, but ultimately it has taken down the whole chain. I am very proud of the hard work the team has put into this operation, including the flexibility and tenacity they have shown throughout.
“Our objective as a Serious Organised Crime Unit is to target organised criminal gangs and criminals. They prey on the vulnerable within our communities. Innocent people who go about their daily business may see dealing in the streets and it is our job to remove them and those above them, which is what we have done in this case.
“I am hoping this shows our communities exactly what we are doing and that the capability of Cheshire’s Serious Organised Crime Unit is equal to that of many bigger forces.”
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