Faces of 16 men who exploited East Lancashire's teenagers

Yesterday, the gang’s final five members were sentenced for their roles in the operation – meaning all defendants involved in the case were jailed for a combined total of 90 years.

Police launched Operation Florence last year following concerns raised by residents in Darwen about drug use by children in the area and that youngsters were being exploited into supply illegal substances after getting into debt. 

As a result dozens of warrants were executed and arrests were made. Sixteen of those arrests resulted in men being charged and then jailed.

They are:

• Craig Hollings (05/05/1973), Sarah Street, Darwen. Guilty to conspiring to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. Eight years.
• Scott McKenna (21/05/1993), Hazel Avenue, Darwen. Guilty to supplying Cocaine. Two years seven months.
• George Lodge (05/02/2002), Perry Street, Darwen. Guilty to supplying cocaine. Two years three months.
• Augustine McDonagh (16/04/1988), Bobbin Close, Accrington. Guilty to Criminal Damage and threats to cause damage by fire. Two years one month.
• Usman Akhter (21/5/84), Sarah Street, Darwen. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. 13 years 
• Shaeed Virmani (12/2/1993), Warren Drive, Swinton. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. 11 years 
• Liam Martyn (24/2/1993), Barnes Avenue, Dronfield, Derbyshire. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. Seven years 
• Tariq Ajaib (2/6/1971) Sarah Street, Darwen. Conspiracy to supply Cannabis. Four years six months 
• Ardit Rrahmani (10/10/1998), Astbury Chase, Darwen. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. Six years nine months 
• Rory Compton (19/10/1990) Ash Grove, Darwen. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine and Cannabis. Six years 
• Joseph Ginley 10/11/1984) Milking Lane, Darwen. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine. Six years four months 
• Ellis Gorman (17/08/1993) Cross Barn Walk, Darwen. Possession with intent to supply Cocaine. Four years 
• Liam Parker (04/01/1993) Atlas Street, Darwen. Possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis. Three years and ten months. 
• Mark Hopwood 22/12/1991, Shepherd’s Close, Ellesmere Port. Conspiracy to import and supply cannabis. Five years
• Michael Ryan Young 3/11/1990. Alexandra Mews, Blackburn. Conspiracy to supply cannabis and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Four years six months
• Samuel Howard 3/01/1996. Duckworth Street, Darwen. Conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis. Two years eight months

Several other defendants were dealt with by ways of non-custodial orders. They were:

• James Burrows (14/08/1998) Plantation Road, Blackburn. Conspiracy to supply Cannabis and being concerned in the supply of Cocaine. 12 months suspended 
• Kieran McKenna (17/06/1984) Griffin Close, Burnley. Conspiracy to supply Cocaine. Two years suspended 
•  Jessica Humphreys (30/05/1999) Domenica Avenue, Darwen. Being concerned in the supply of Cannabis. Community order 
• Jack Beeke 8/02/1993. Church Terrace, Darwen. Conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis. Two years suspended
• Mark Jeal 28/03/1984 Pilmuir Road, Blackburn. Conspiracy to supply cannabis. Two years suspended
• Clare Lester 6/05/96 Duckworth Street, Darwen. Allowing premises to be used for the production of cannabis. Community Order.
• Billy Beeke (30/04/1994), Brandwood Street, Darwen. Guilty to supplying cannabis. Community order.

The gang’s head Usman Akhter controlled a sophisticated network bringing hundreds of kilos of cocaine and cannabis into the region. 

The OCG’s tactics to try to avoid detection included using the façade of car sales business – Burnley-based Elite and Prestige run by Akhter’s girlfriend Jessica Humphreys – to provide vehicles for criminal activity, including moving drugs around, and to explain large deposits of cash. 

Trusted and high-level members of the gang also used encrypted mobile phones known as EncroChat phones which they wrongly believed would mask their conversations from the police.  

The phones, which cost around £1500 for 6 months service; the user has a unique “handle” which can only communicate with other handles by mutual consent. In addition to encrypted communications, the handsets are programmed with a host of functions designed to minimise the risk of the devices ever being accessed or downloaded, if seized.

Text messages are automatically deleted from the handsets, and devices can be remotely wiped.  

As part of the investigation warrants were executed at 25 addresses – including properties in Darwen, Blackburn and Northwich in Cheshire – in May and June and a large quantity of suspected cocaine and cannabis was recovered. Officers also seized a number of vehicles and weapons. 

While many of the properties used by the gang in the UK were unobtrusive and modest a villa in Marbella, Spain ‘Los Flamingos’ where Akhter based himself showed the more lavish trappings of the conspiracy. 

Besides Akhter other main players included Shaheed Virmani from Manchester who supplied to and received from Akhter large amounts of cannabis and cocaine and

Marbella-based Liam Martyn who was involved in the supply of drugs from Spain to the UK. Martyn was shot in Marbella in May 2020 and arrested in Plymouth while on the run. 

Det Insp Martin Melvin, from the East Exploitation Team, said: “This OCG thought they could live the high life by exploiting the most vulnerable in society, including children. I am pleased all its members have now been dealt with by the courts and the significant total sentence received reflects the seriousness of their criminal actions.

“Op Florence, which was a major operation involving considerable police resources, was launched directly on the back of concerns raised by members of the public. I would encourage anyone concerned about criminal activity in their area to contact the police, knowing that we will act on that information and take the appropriate action.” 

Anyone with concerns about drug-dealing or any other criminal activity in their area can call police on 101 or 999 in an emergency. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted, in confidence, on 0800 555111.