Brazen gang used vans with British Gas and AA logos to transport drugs

THE boss of a heavily armed organised crime group involved in the supply of huge amounts of drugs has been jailed for 27 years.

- By ROB KENNEDY

Shaun Monaghan was in charge of a “professional and busy” underworld North East gang who shipped cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and cash around the region and further afield and had access to an arsenal of weapons including a machine gun, grenade and pistols.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the gang used vans with special hides to transport the material, some of which were emblazoned with the logos of the AA, British Gas and courier firms so they went under the radar of the police.

However the lucrative business was exposed when the encrypted network on which criminals thought they could message with impunity was smashed by French police and Monaghan was arrested by armed police in Turkey.

Now five members of the gang - Monaghan, convicted murderer James Ramshaw, Bryn Bowden, Steven Graham and James White, have been jailed for a total of 57 years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Richard Herrmann, prosecuting, told the court: "Shaun Monaghan was the head of an efficient, professional and busy organised crime group based in the North East of England. This case focuses on the activities of that organised crime group between March and June of 2020.

"The men who sit in the dock with Shaun Monaghan were some of his trusted associates. Orchestrated by Monaghan, the group conspired to distribute wholesale quantities of multiple drugs around the north of England. Within this relatively short window or three to four months the organised crime group conspired to, and actually did, distribute a minimum of over 50kg of cocaine, around 20kg of heroin and 200kg of amphetamine. Alongside the drugs, the OCG (organised crime group) had ready access to live firearms and live ammunition."

The court heard the gang were using EncroChat to discuss their criminal activities but they were exposed when the encrypted communications network was infiltrated by French police.