24 years in jail for the cocaine baron who ran £100m ‘business’
HIS registered company had all the trappings of a legitimate successful business, with a logistics team and investment adviser. But Marcus Callaghan’s firm was a front for a ruthless and professionally run £100million drugs empire.
He bought Callaghan Solutions Ltd’s favoured clients £400 bottles of pink champagne and rewarded their loyalty with ‘corporate hospitality’ breaks to luxury hotels. But Callaghan, 34, saw his empire crash after police stopped one of his couriers and discovered cocaine worth £4million in a car boot.
The drugs were traced back to Callaghan and on Tuesday he was jailed for 24 years at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply drugs, plus conspiracy to acquire criminal property. He was cleared of possessing a firearm.
Detectives had been tracking Callaghan’s operation since he was named as a suspect in the murders of two hitmen shot dead following a bungled gangland execution in a Salford pub in 2006.
In February, police intercepted one of his couriers on his way to Teesside and found the cocaine. In a series of raids, officers seized heroin, cocaine and cannabis worth £32million, £200,000 in cash and a list of debtors. A drug dealers ‘manual’, instructing them how to avoid detection,