Manchester Airport bust led to downfall of Breaking Bad style drug gang 'fixer'
Brett Smith was jailed after police uncovered EncroChat messages linking him to a drugs gang operating out of a mill
A notorious drug gang's 'fixer' has been ordered to repay over £164,000 of his ill-gotten gains after he was busted when packages were stopped at Manchester Airport.
Brett Smith, 43, was sentenced to four years in prison after police discovered EncroChat messages linking him to a Breaking Bad-style gang operating from a mill in Darwen.
The messages connected Smith, from Infirmary Road, Blackburn, to Zachariah Deaffern - a central figure in a conspiracy that involved importing large amounts of amphetamine and cannabis from Europe.
The drugs were transported to Hollins Mill in Darwen, where they were cut and packaged for distribution across the UK. Deaffern received a 12-year prison sentence for his part in the conspiracy to supply class B drugs and possession of a prohibited firearm in February 2023.
Between January 2020 and March 2021, the gang produced and supplied more than 200kg of amphetamine and 400kg of cannabis.
However, packages containing the class B drugs were intercepted in Dover, Coventry and at Manchester Airport.
Smith, who also had a residence in Malaga, Spain, was found guilty of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an indictable offence, relating to his discussions with Deaffern.
The investigation began in 2021 when Lancashire Police linked encrypted mobile phones to the gang leader, Deaffern, and co-defendant, John Rowe, reports Lancs Live.
Surveillance footage captured at Hollins Grove Mill showed members of the organised crime group (OCG) donning forensic suits to weigh and cut the drugs.
At a proceeds of crime hearing on Tuesday (June 10) at Preston Crown Court, it was revealed that Smith, from Infirmary Road, Blackburn, had made £294,986.28 from his involvement in the conspiracy.
He was ordered to pay £164,493.58, the value of his available assets, within three months or face a 20-month prison sentence.
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