Cleaner-turned-gangster rose to the top - before fall

A GANGSTER who benefited from crime to the tune of £2million will lose his luxury watches as prosecutors seek to claw back his ill-gotten gains.

- BY ANDREW BARDSLEY

Andrew Cooney was part of a crime gang responsible for the biggest gun-running plot ever countered by UK law enforcement.

‘The firm - who included two Reddish men - was also involved in large scale drug supply.

‘The gang operated its main stash house from Cotton Field Wharf, a plush residential development at Ancoats marina, where guns, ammunition, drugs and ‘vast’ amounts of cash were stored.

‘A judge previously said the gang was responsible for ‘criminality on an ‘exceptional scale’.

‘They were behind the supply of cocaine worth £70m, and sold 48 Skorpion machine pistols to other gangsters across the UK and Ireland. The guns were sold for between £9,000 and £15,000 each.

Cooney, also known as ‘Mr Italy’ due to his property in the country, was involved in the supply of drugs and firearms, and also acted as a broker for the gang.

At his Alderley Edge home, officers found a kilo of cocaine in his Audi A3, as well as two Porsches parked outside.

He also had luxury watches, phones, a vacuum packing machine and paperwork for an Italian villa.