Nottingham gang leader Craig Moran went on the run, shortly after police intercepted four kilos of cocaine and two kilos of heroin on its way from Manchester to Nottingham.
Jumping in the back of the lorry, Moran, now 43, had fled to Dover before making his way through France and Spain.
In Marbella, his criminal lifestyle caught up with him when he was shot through the hands and kneecaps and received a serious wound to his face.
Again, he made a run for it. This time to Dubai, where he thought Nottinghamshire Police would never find him.
Moran was hiding out, paying cash in hand, attempting to keep up a lavish lifestyle on borrowed time as his drugs empire was crumbling around him.
Back in Nottinghamshire, detectives were busy dismantling his criminal gang one by one before they organised Moran’s arrest and extradited him to the UK.
In March 2020, Dubai Special Forces entered his place of residence and handed the Bestwood criminal back to two Notts police officers waiting at the airport.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer firearms, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine) and money laundering.
But it was back in October 2017 that this investigation began when police executed a search warrant at Leybourne Drive in Bestwood and recovered a sawn-off shotgun.
It was this weapon that helped police uncover a major drugs and weapons line between Manchester and Nottingham.
This included Moran, who headed up the Nottingham operation and Jodie Danson, aged 43, who ran the operation in Salford.
A forensic examination of this weapon found it had been used in Manchester and it now contained the DNA of Callum Sims, the cousin of Moran.
In November 2017, police arrived in Morrell Bank in Bestwood after a car rolled down the road and crashed into another vehicle.
There was no one behind the wheel but inside the car were two handguns and four packages of mixing agent used for cocaine.
The vehicle had also been stolen from Netherfield a few days previously and was now parked next to Sims’ address.
In April 2018, police executed a warrant at Wendling Gardens in Bestwood, the home of Lee Hudson, who was Moran’s nephew.
They found a cannabis grow; £13,000 in cash, a cash counting machine, two encrypted mobile phones and 131 rounds of ammunition.
East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) was brought in and started to build up a picture of what was happening.
It was becoming increasingly obvious that Moran was the key player in bringing guns and drugs into the Bestwood area.
Throughout the investigation, police uncovered a significant number of courier trips between Manchester and Nottingham by Moran’s gang.
On July 19, 2018, police intercepted a vehicle near the M1, Junction 26, driven by Sims, where a JD Sports bag containing four kilos of cocaine and two kilos of heroin was recovered.
But before the links could be made to Moran, who was on court bail for an affray in McDonald’s at the time, he ditched his electronic tag and was smuggled out of the country in the back of a lorry.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued for his arrest but after he was attacked in Marbella, he fled to Dubai.
Back in Nottinghamshire, by March 2019, police had carried out a large number of warrants in Bestwood and Manchester and arrested everyone involved.
Moran was then arrested in Dubai and extradited to the UK in July 2020 where he later pleaded guilty to several serious offences.
Assistant Chief Constable for Nottinghamshire Police Rob Griffin said:
“There is no doubt this organised criminal group were responsible for bringing large amounts of cocaine and heroin into Nottingham as well as firearms and ammunition.
“We had made great strides in Bestwood to rid the area of this type of activity and Moran and his gang were intent on bringing it back.
“Moran may have thought that by going on the run he would escape justice, but he was very wrong.
“Moran had no legitimate means of income but drove a £80,000 Range Rover Sport which cost him over £1,200 a month to lease and had an appetite for designer clothing and expensive hotels.
“He claimed to work as a fitness instructor and achieved high earnings through hard work but there is no evidence whatsoever that was the case.
“Instead, he lived a stereotypical gangster lifestyle which finally caught up with him.
“He made payments exclusively in cash and thought he was above the law even trying to set up a new life for himself in Dubai.
“But through the extensive work of detectives and neighbourhood officers, we were building up a strong case to ensure this man was brought to justice.
“There is no doubt Moran led the Nottingham Organised Criminal Group – a number of his criminal associates were close friends and family members.
“Lee Hudson was the face of the operation in Nottingham, organising couriers and dealers such as Sims and Kirk.
“The criminal group had access to firearms and ammunition as tools of the trade required to protect a high-value criminal business.
“This expert investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit shows how persistent we are at ensuring those who cause the most harm to our communities and try and make money through crime will be dealt with robustly and their operations shut down.
“I hope it sends out a clear warning to others who think they can run drugs operations in our city and county. We will use all the investigative tools necessary to ensure we take their so-called drugs empires away from them.”
- Craig Moran, (formally of Revelstoke Way, Rise Park, Nottingham), pleaded guilty to 1) Conspiracy to transfer firearms, 2) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine) and 3) Money laundering.
- Lee Hudson, (formally Wendling Gardens, Bestwood, Nottingham), pleaded guilty to 1) Possessing Ammunition without a Firearms Certificate, 2) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine), 3) Producing Class B Drugs (Cannabis), 4) Possessing Class B Drugs with Intent (Cannabis) and 5) Possession of Criminal Property (cash £13,160)
- Callum Sims, (formally Morrell Bank, Bestwood, Nottingham), pleaded guilty to 1) Conspiracy to transfer firearms, 2) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine) and 3) Possessing a Prohibited Weapon (Section 5 Firearm – CS Spray Cannister)
- Calum Kirk, of Whitton Close, Bestwood, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to 1) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine)
- Darren Bexon, (formally of Huggett Gardens, Top Valley, Nottingham), pleaded guilty to1) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine)
- Richard Jones, (formally Edgeware Road, Newton Heath, Manchester), pleaded guilty to 1) Possession of Firearms, 2) Possessing Class B drugs with Intent (Cannabis), 3) Possession of Class A drugs (Cocaine & MDMA), 4) Possession of Class B drugs and 5) Possession of Criminal Property (approx. £6,000 cash)
- Dean Hudson, of Totland Drive, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to 1) Producing Class B Drugs (Cannabis), 2) Possessing Class B Drugs with Intent (Cannabis) and 3) Participating in activities knowing, or reasonably suspecting, that they would help an organised crime group to carry on criminal activities.
- Jodie Danson, of HMP (formally of Edmund Street, Salford, Manchester), pleaded guilty to 1) Conspiracy to acquire firearms, 2) Conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine) and 3) Conspiracy to supply Class B drugs (Cannabis & Amphetamine)
- Craig Bailey, of Watkins Avenue, Salford, Manchester, pleaded guilty to 1) Participating in activities knowing, or reasonably suspecting, that they would help an organised crime group to carry on criminal activities.
- John Newns, of Asgard Drive, Salford, Manchester, pleaded guilty to 1) Conspiracy to supply Class B drugs (Cannabis & Amphetamine) and 2) Producing a Class B Drug (Cannabis)
