A GANG of dealers from Macclesfield are facing jail after admitting their roles in supplying drugs in the town.
Key figures Thomas Flanagan, 30, and his stepfather John Hambleton, 47, were among ten people who confessed to being involved in the operation at Chester Crown Court.
It follows a series of early morning raids in the town and across Cheshire, Merseyside and Manchester in September when 20 people were arrested.
The raids – carried out as part of Operation Impact – aimed to clampdown on the supply of drugs into the town from Liverpool.
Around 100 police officers took part in the raids which were launched from a secret location in Macclesfield.
DI Gary McIntyre, of Cheshire police’s major investigation team, said: “Drugs ruin lives and devastate communities, and the members of this gang were ignorant to this, purely concentrating on self-gain and profit.
“Flanagan and Hambleton were key to the organisation of their activity.
“A substantial quantity of both cash and drugs were seized from addresses on the morning of the raids.
“This has been a protracted but meticulous investigation and operation – the success of which is evidenced by the guilty pleas submitted.”
At Chester Crown Court on Monday, November 30, Flanagan, of Brynmore Drive; Hambleton, of Sutton Close, and Michael Green, 35, of Buckfast Close - all in Macclesfield - admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Stephen Day, 43, of Kendal Road; Thomas Jackson, 18, of Wenlock Close; Macclesfield; Joseph McGuire, 37, of HMP Forest Bank; and Thomas Brown, 30, of HMP Hull, all admitted supplying heroin and crack cocaine.
At a previous hearing on September 30, David Hunter, 35, of, Stoneleigh Close, Macclesfield, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine, and Adam Harrison, 29, of Cedar Grove, and Daniel Mayers, 33, of Donagh Close, both Macclesfield, admitted supplying heroin and crack cocaine.
All of the men will be sentenced in March.
