THREE men have been jailed for a total of 23 years for their part in a drugs plot to distribute high quality cocaine from Merseyside to North Wales and other parts of the UK.

Operation Titan, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, confirmed the three men were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday for drug offences.

Mark Burke, 39, of Tarbock Road, Huyton, was jailed for 10 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

He was also sentenced for disqualified driving.

Callum Brayton, 27, of Tarbock Road, Huyton was jailed for eight years seven months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Paul Williams, 42, of Fern Avenue, Prestatyn was jailed for five years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Burke and Brayton were arrested at their homes after search warrants were executed across Merseyside and North Wales in relation to the suspected supply of Class A drugs and money laundering.

The group had been distributing high purity cocaine from Merseyside to North Wales and other parts of the UK.

Detectives identified Burke as playing a leading role in the organisation and distribution of controlled drugs, and Brayton as his trusted lieutenant.

Williams’ sourced high purity cocaine from Burke and Brayton, collecting the drug from Huyton for distribution in the North Wales area. 

On Thursday, April 28, 2016, Paul Williams travelled to Huyton in his taxi and briefly met Callum Brayton. On his return to North Wales Williams was stopped on Rhuallt Hill, in St Asaph, Wales and found to be in possession of 41.8 grams of cocaine with a purity percentage of 87 per cent and a street value £4,180.

On Wednesday, May 18, 2016, Brayton met a man from Lincolnshire on St Johns Road in Huyton and handed him a Tesco ‘bag for life’.

At 2.08pm the man was stopped in Greater Manchester and the bag was found to contain over half a kilo of cocaine. 

When Burke and Brayton were arrested on October 12, 2016, several prestige vehicles and assets such as designer clothing and electrical goods were seized under Section 47 of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Det Insp Nick Hughes: “The sentencing of these three men clearly shows how seriously the courts take the supply of Class A on the streets of Merseyside and further afield. 

“They, and others involved in serious and organised crime, never gave a second thought to the effects of their supply of Class A drugs. They were consumed by their own greed and desire to make money off the misery of others. 

“I’d like to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who has any information about serious organised crime to come forward and tell us. If you let us know, I can assure you we will take positive action and help you to improve your community.”