Two men ran a 'Deliveroo for drugs' service from a black cab, offering 'crisps and prosecco', a court has heard.
The pair, described as "ambitious", boasted about making nearly £15,000 in just one week through their lockdown delivery service, the court was told. The drug supply line was set up in 2020 by Elliot Garrity, 44, and Daniel McLoughlin, 37, according to prosecutors. The court heard that word of the phone line spread through word of mouth and Instagram.
Garrity would make deliveries in his black cab after orders were placed by drug users. The illegal activity was disguised as taxi fares, with customers able to pay using the cabbie's card machine. During the covid lockdown, the pair saw an opportunity to "expand the business" with other items, the court was told. Alongside the drugs, they soon offered items "like prosecco and crisps".
"They were effectively a Deliveroo for drugs," Alexander Langhorn, prosecuting, told the judge. McLoughlin, who used the handles 'Tabooky' and 'Wearyspear', sent EncroChat messages in which he "bragged" about earning roughly £15,000 in a single week with the "best drugs line ever", reports Birmingham Live.
He had plans to expand his business, which police believe sold over three kilos of cocaine and ketamine in equal amounts, to operate 24 hours a day with multiple drivers working for him. Even when the Encro server was shut down in June 2020, the men didn't stop their profitable business.
The court was told that they hired Bolan, 24, from Wood Lea in Croxteth, to help with deliveries as well as McLoughlin's partner Charlotte Smith, 33, from Utting Avenue in Walton. The judge was informed that the operation ended quickly when Merseyside Police officers raided several addresses in Hoylake and West Derby.
McLoughlin was arrested at home where officers found hand written lists along with a map of Merseyside and overlay postcodes, which he used to guide Garrity and his cab to deliver his drugs more efficiently. McLoughlin faced another charge of exporting a controlled drug, said Mr Langhorn.
He sent a quarter kilo of ketamine to a storage locker in Australia using vacuum sealed Starbucks coffee bags. After the first successful delivery, McLoughlin and Garrity teamed up and planned to increase the supply to the continent. Defending McLoughlin, Michael Lavers, said his client knew that his criminal past would mean a longer time in prison was inevitable. He told the court that the 37 year old was a drug user himself and has worked hard to overcome his addiction.
"This is someone who has the potential to make a contribute to society but has wasted a significant part of his life due to a particular lifestyle choice and what he saw others were able to obtain from it. He is in new relationship and wants to settle down upon release and put this life behind him."
For Garrity, Jonathan Duffy said that it was "obvious" he played a leading role in the plot and went to the length of using his own business as a "reputable front". But, he stressed that the dad-of-four was not the overall leader of the conspiracy.
He said: "[Garrity] was not involved in the seeking out of customers or sourcing drugs with his co-defendant, he delivered drugs and took payment. He accepted guilt at an early stage and has waited to be sentenced for some time now, knowing a custodial sentence was coming."
Matthew Buckland and Gerard Hillman, representing Bolan and Smith respectfully, both had nothing further to add once Judge Stuart Driver gave an indication of their client's fate. Judge Stuart Driver sentenced McLoughlin to 14 years and four months overall. He said: "This was your business. You controlled it on a commercial scale expecting financial reward and using another business as a cover.
"You used sophisticated Encro phones to avoid detection. The worst feature is the criminal record. you have two previous sentences for Class A drug supply offences, this is your third strike. In one message, you boasted this was "such a good drugs line" you kept it going during your prison sentence. You are an organised, ambitious and wholly unrepentant drug trafficker and your sentence has been increased significantly to reflect that."
Garrity gave his family sat behind him in the public gallery a thumbs up as he was escorted to the cells once he had been sentenced to eight years behind bars. The judge told Bolan and Smith they both had "strong prospects of rehabilitation" as they each admitted to playing limited roles later on in the conspiracy.
Bolan was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for a year and ordered to carry out 70 months of unpaid work after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. Smith was handed the same sentence with an expectation of completing 50 hours unpaid work.
After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Mike Robinson from the NWROCU's Investigation Team said: "We know the destruction that drug supply causes and the NWROCU remains relentless in our pursuit of these criminals and to bring down serious and organised criminal groups. This group thought that they could evade police by using encrypted phones, but they were wrong. I hope this result shows that our officers will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of these people who think they are above the law and believe they can evade justice."