Footballers at the helm of £260m cocaine ring jailed for 104 years

Six semi-professional footballers who ran a £260m cocaine empire have been jailed for 104 years. In total, the group was found to have conspired to supply more than 2.7 tonnes of high-quality cocaine between April and October 2022.

Luke Skeete, 36, of Evergreen Drive, West Drayton, was stopped by police in October 2022 while driving a minivan. When the police searched him, they found 8 kg of cocaine in the back of the vehicle.

A video recovered from a car involved in the deal showed Skeete parking in his white van and driving over a wave of drugs. Skeete was arrested and a further 123kg of cocaine and 224kg of ketamine were recovered from west London storage facilities he controlled. During the course of this investigation, Skeete’s phone was seized and sent for specialist hearings.

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On it, officers found a secure messaging platform and began examining users. They discovered that each had an individual handle to hide their true identities and evade the police, but after painstaking work they were identified.

Panel discussions demonstrated and highlighted a sophisticated and professional business model the group operated to supply cocaine across the UK. Detectives then examined CCTV for evidence of the gang coming and going from the storage facility with drugs hidden in overalls and boxes.

On 28 September 2023, specialist crime officers executed arrest warrants at addresses linked to the group in London and Birmingham. The group were jailed for 104 years at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday 17 May after they all pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine.

Adam Pepara, 35, of Wharf Lane, Solihull was jailed for 29 years, reduced to 24 years. Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, of Delgarno Gardens, North Kensington, was sentenced to 26 years and six months, reduced to 18 years and nine months.

Jamarl Joseph, 28, of Lily Gardens, Wembley was jailed for 26 years and six months, reduced to 17 years and six months. Andrew Harewood, 34, of Woodhurst Road, North Acton, was sentenced to 24 years and six months, reduced to 16 years and one month.

Melchi Emanuel-Williamson, 29, of Wesley Avenue, North Acton was jailed for 21 years and six months reduced to 14 years Luke Skeete, 36, of Evergreen Drive, West Drayton was jailed for 22 years and six months reduced to 13 years and one month.

Constable Perry, from Specialist Crime North, said: “The operation we busted here is not a small-scale enterprise involving a group of chancers – this is a highly organized criminal group supplying drugs on an industrial scale across all of Great Britain.

“The sentences they received reflect the seriousness of what they did. This is a criminal group that had promising careers – semi-professional footballers with other jobs and courses to attend – but were motivated to make money off the drugs that fuel the misery and violence on our streets.

“Anyone else wondering if they can make money from this kind of activity should look at these sentences and think again, because it’s only a matter of time before you get caught.”

Detective Constable Janes, from Specialist Crime North, said: “With Skeete’s arrest, we have brought down this house of cards. After he was apprehended, we secured valuable evidence on his cell phone, helping us launch another investigation that led to the identification of his co-conspirators.

“The forensic examination of that device and the invaluable CCTV evidence helped us build such a compelling case that neither of them had any choice but to plead guilty.”

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