WIREDGOV

A leading member of an organised crime group (OCG) that trafficked heroin and cocaine has been jailed.

The National Crime Agency investigated Stephen Earle, 52, from Crosby, Liverpool, who travelled to Portugal in July 2020, and remained there to avoid capture after NCA officers apprehended his associates in March 2021.

He was arrested by the Polícia Judiciária Fugitive Team in Faro in January this year at the request of the NCA, and returned to the UK on 18 March.

Earle worked closely with his cousin Terence Earle, 50, who was jailed for 16-and-a-half years in April last year. The pair used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to run the criminal enterprise, with the help of subordinates Stanley Feerick, 70, and Lee Baxter, 50.

Baxter and Feerick have also been sentenced for their part in the class A operation and Feerick in relation to the creation of an amphetamine lab in Scotland.

Terence and Stephen used the EncroChat handles ‘ThickBoar’ and ‘Octo-hand’ respectively, and discussed prices for buying and selling the drugs as well as the logistics of trafficking.

The pair shipped at least 10 kilos of heroin and seven kilos of cocaine, with the former moved from Merseyside to Motherwell and the latter in the opposite direction.

Stephen Earle pleaded guilty to four drugs supply charges at Liverpool Crown Court on 16 April and was sentenced to 11 years and four months imprisonment at the same court today (2 August).

The NCA’s investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK NCA-led law enforcement response to the takedown of the EncroChat service in June 2020.

NCA Branch Commander Jon Sayers said:

“Stephen Earle was a key part of a dangerous organised crime group that shipped class A drugs to be dealt across communities in England and Scotland.

“This lethal trade is closely linked to exploitation and violence, so bringing this OCG to justice has helped protect the public.

“Earle’s arrest in Portugal shows that law enforcement’s collective reach is wide and there is no place to hide for people engaged in drug trafficking.

“The NCA has the capability and international relationships to find you and make you pay for your crimes.”