An extensive drug operation led by two cousins and a Scottish dad saw huge quantities of drugs imported and supplied before a search of a lorry search brought it all down.

The organised crime group (OCG) was led by 'kingpin' Terence Earle and his cousin Stephen, who used the EncroChat handles 'ThickBoar' and 'Octo-hand'. They worked with Colin Wright, from Motherwell in Scotland, to import drugs from 'Europe and beyond' before trafficking them across the UK.

The gang also stashed hundreds of kilograms of a drug in a Blackpool holiday park, which they used to create amphetamines in a secret £1 million lab in Scotland. However, the gang's racket was finally unravelled by a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe, codenamed Operation Joyfully, which was set up to investigate the three men's criminal empire.

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And following three separate sentencing hearings at Liverpool Crown Court, the three are now all behind bars, where they will remain for much of the next decade. Following the sentencing of Wright, 38, this week, the gang's operations can be revealed in full.

The investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK NCA-led law enforcement response to the takedown of the encrypted communication platform EncroChat. EncroChat was described this week in court as 'the platform of choice for those on the upper echelons of serious and organised criminality'.

The investigation was launched into the importation of drugs from Europe and beyond that was being supplied in England and Scotland. The probe was built around the analysis of EncroChat messages, handed to the NCA by their European counterparts following the hacking of the encrypted messaging platform, 'supplemented by some careful surveillance evidence'.

The Earles and Wright, who used the handle 'Jack-Nicklaus', enlisted the help of subordinates such as Stanley Feerick and Stephen King to carry out illicit activities. The operation saw the group utilise European contacts to ship drugs into the UK before setting up supply routes between Merseyside and Scotland. They also had a 'secret laboratory' that helped them pump out even more drugs into vulnerable communities, reports The Echo.

Messages extracted from Wright's device showed regular contact between him and the the Earles. The messages showed discussions about drug importation and supply, including references to 'butterfly ones' and cocaine blocks stamped with the Ducati logo, as well as the transportation of heroin up to Scotland.

There were also messages that discussed the importation of €10m worth of class A drugs, that would have been shipped from South America to Germany and then into the UK. While Terence Earles was undoubtedly the kingpin, Wright - described as the leader of the Scottish arm of the operation - was 'close to the original source' of drug shipments, as messages involving the supply of 4kg of cocaine showed him saying it was supplied 'as a test' with the potential to 'step it up' as time went on.

Terence Earle was assisted by Lee Baxter, as well as Feerick and King. While the criminal enterprise appeared to be working well, with drug shipments being pumped around the UK, and production being stepped up at the secret lab, little did the gang know their movements were being watched by authorities following the hacking of the EncroChat network.

Although users of the network were alerted about the hack in June, it appears they attempted to continue to ship chemicals used to make amphetamine up to Scotland, as well as heroin and cocaine in either direction. Covert surveillance from the NCA captured a meeting between Feerick and King in November 2020, with the former arrested shortly afterwards while driving a lorry on the M6 southbound.

A hold-all inside the HGV contained 2.9kg of heroin, class A drugs worth around £300,000, as well as £20,000 in cash. A search of Feerick's address on Longreach Road, Dovecot, unearthed nearly £10,000 more. The decisive blow for the organisation however was when Lancashire Police seized 560kg of alpha-phenylacetoacetamide - also known as APAA - from the OCG in December 2020.

The three pallets, comprising of 28 boxes in total, were found in the rear of a lorry which had been loaded up at a warehouse at Reams Hill Holiday Park - a caravan park in Weeton, near Blackpool - on Feerick's orders before being stopped by police using a stinger. This quantity would have allowed for the production of around 1,000kg of the drug, worth £1.1m, at the 'industrial scale' lab. The Earles and their associates had previously arranged for seven boxes of APAA to be transported in a Ford Transit van from the same site to a garage in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, in March 2020, at the beginning of the first covid lockdown.

Terence Earle, Baxter, Feerick and King were all arrested in March 2021. By that time, understanding the police net was closing in, Stephen Earle and Wright had fled the country. Stephen Earle went to Portugal, with an image released by the NCA showing him at Manchester Airport in July 2020, while Wright went to Spain three months later.

Another conspirator, Stephen Singleton, used his "apparently legitimate chemicals company" in order to "supply the necessary ingredients for large amounts of amphetamine". He too operated using an EncroChat phone, giving Terence Earle his custom in "commercial if not industrial quantities".

Liverpool Crown Court heard in April 2023 that Terence Earle, of Freckleton Road in St Helens, was found to have been involved in the supply of at least 11kg of cocaine and discussions to traffic 19kg following a trial of issue, he having claimed that this figure was limited to 8kg.

Singleton, of York Road in Birkdale, was jailed for nine years and two months in January 2023 after he was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine by a jury at Teesside Crown Court. This came in connection with a similar drugs lab located in a shed in a rural area near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, which was capable of producing around £5m of amphetamine.

Singleton, of York Road in Birkdale, was jailed for nine years and two months in January 2023 after he was convicted of conspiracy to produce amphetamine by a jury at Teesside Crown Court. This came in connection with a similar drugs lab located in a shed in a rural area near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, which was capable of producing around £5m of amphetamine.

In April 2023, Terence Earle admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to produce amphetamine. He was jailed for 16-and-a-half years. Feerick admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and participating in the activities of an organised crime group three months later and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

By that time Singleton had also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce amphetamine during an earlier hearing. Appearing via video link to HMP Holme House in County Durham, he was handed 41 months behind bars - to be served consecutively to his current term.

Baxter admitted participating in the activities of an organised crime group. He was given a 22-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 15 days. King was found guilty of participating in the activities of an organised crime group following a trial. He was handed 18 months suspended for 18 months plus 100 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Sentencing Terence Earle, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "You were a senior figure in this conspiracy. You must have had an established network of contacts. I am sure you were playing a leading role in this conspiracy. You were organising, buying and selling on a commercial scale. You had substantial links to others in the chain, with close connections to the original source. You must have had the expectation of substantial financial gain."

Stephen Earle was extradited from Portugal in March this year and returned to the UK. He pleaded guilty to four drugs supply charges at Liverpool Crown Court and was sentenced to 11 years and four months' imprisonment. Following his conviction, NCA branch commander Jon Sayers said: "Stephen Earle was a key part of a dangerous organised crime group that shipped class A drugs to be dealt across communities in England and Scotland. This lethal trade is closely linked to exploitation and violence, so bringing this OCG to justice has helped protect the public."

Wright was also arrested in March and was returned to the UK in October. Wright, who had a number of high value items seized from his Spanish address when he was arrested, was estimated to be involved in the supply of at least 20kg of cocaine and 10kg of heroin, as well as the production of amphetamine.

The same judge told him: "I am sure you were playing a leading role by organising, buying and selling on a commercial scale with the expectation of substantial financial gain." Wright was sentenced to 13 years and four months. NCA branch commander Cat McHugh said: "Wright's case shows that criminals who seek refuge abroad are never immune from law enforcement's reach as the NCA has the international scope to find them, bring them back to the UK and put them before the courts."