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Liverpool gang jailed for multi-million pound drugs plot | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The ringleaders of a Liverpool-based gang that supplied tens of millions of pounds of cocaine and heroin to the streets of Glasgow have been jailed. | |
Father and son Christopher Welsh Snr, 55, of Regal Walk and Christopher Welsh Jnr, 34, of Payley Close, led the plot, Liverpool Crown Court heard. | |
A further seven members of the gang were jailed, with 21 more due to be sentenced in the next few days. | |
They were responsible for "flooding" Glasgow with drugs, police said. | |
Titan, which is the regional organised crime unit in north-west England, said its intelligence suggested there were at least 111 trips to Scotland. | |
It estimates the drugs trafficked in those journeys had a total street value of between £100m to £200m. | |
Det Supt Jason Hudson, head of operations for Titan, said the gang was at the very top of the organised crime network. | |
'Fancy holidays' | |
He added: "This gang were responsible for flooding the streets of Glasgow with incredibly dangerous and damaging Class A drugs, profiting from other people's misery in the process. | |
"The top tier of this gang masterminded a massive criminal enterprise which helped them live the kind of comfortable lives most people would envy. | |
"They thought they were above the law. I am pleased to say that there will be no more fancy holidays abroad for these individuals." | |
Welsh Snr was jailed for 15 years, four months, with his son receiving 16 years, eight months. | |
Police said Welsh Snr's lavish lifestyle included paying £57,000 in cash to take 40 relatives and friends to his stag do and wedding in Mexico. | |
The other gang members jailed, all for conspiracy to commit drugs offences, were: |