How cops stopped gangland ‘Mr Big’
Special reportre on the operation that netted major inflinfluence on city underworld:underw
UNDERCOVER firearms officers kept their nerve before they made a move.
Their quarry was armed, dangerous, and wearing a balaclava.
Zico Reid, 33, had been tracked through the quiet backstreets and ginnels of Rusholme by officers keeping him under surveillance.
When he realised police were closing in on him, he stashed a Walther P22 self-loading pistol in undergrowth in an alleyway off Heald Avenue. The magazine of the weapon was loaded with nine cartridges.
His arrest, moments later, police believe, averted a bloodbath. The Walther was just one of the guns seized by police in an investigation which found that tensions between criminals in south Manchester had reached boiling point with Reid on the streets.
At the time of Zico Reid’s arrest, police believed his influence had led to disputes between different factions in Rusholme, Fallowfield and Moss Side – and a rash of stabbings.
Intelligence led to police launching the operation which led to his capture with the loaded gun.
Following the conclusion of a linked Manchester Crown Court case involving another defendant, details of the operation that led to Reid’s arrest can now be reported.
Reid, of Eva Street, Rusholme, is facing a lengthy sentence after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life earlier this year.
The operation – codenamed Pallas – involved Greater Manchester Police and the North West Serious and Organised Crime Unit (NW ROCU), and was intended to nip in the bud the growing threat of deadly gun violence caused, they believed, by Reid’s activities.
Just 11 months before his arrest at 11pm on August 6, 2019, Reid had been given a chance to go straight by a judge.
While serving a one-year sentence for dangerous driving in Leeds’ Armley prison, he was caught with a mobile phone and cannabis in his cell.
The judge suspended the sentence for those offences, so Reid could prove he could stay out of trouble. Instead, his influence created an atmosphere of ‘intimidation and fear’ in inner south Manchester.
Supt Mark Dexter, of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said of Reid’s influence: “It was fuelling tensions between criminals which was resulting in violence. We had people suffering stab wounds in confrontations in the street.
“This person had an overbearing influence on the area.
“It’s that creation of fear and intimidation they want, to be untouchable.
“They have people around them that will peddle that message.”
While police believe Reid controlled others, he also directly implicated himself in organised crime by being caught with the loaded gun after being observed meeting some other men.
Reid’s DNA was recovered on the
inside of the Walther pistol. But while that was the only weapon he was linked to, the investigation into his activities and associates, supported by community-based intelligence, led to the seizure of a frightening arsenal.
A loaded Smith and Wesson Magnum was recovered from the basement of a house in Dickenson Road, Rusholme, on July 16 last year.
The next day, a Brock revolver was found in the boot of a stolen car in Cambourne Street.
Police also recovered sixty rounds of ammunition made up of .22 and .38 bullets.
Supt Dexter said: “A .38 is a heavy slug which would do a lot of damage in terms of injuries.”
He added: “There was a determined effort at the time (of Operation Pallas), to cause harm to individuals. We would say that we have almost certainly prevented that from happening.
“We believe there were ongoing disputes between gangs in Fallowfield, Moss Side, and Rusholme. Some of that was borne out of personal vendettas.
“It is our assessment that a number of those people were targeted or would have been. We intervened and recovered firearms in the process.”
Asked if the conflict would have resulted in fatalities, Supt Dexter added: “Absolutely, serious injury at the very least.”
“With covert work and surveillance, we were able to piece together what was going on,” Supt Dexter added. “It seemed to be centred around Zico Reid. He seemed to be the focal point and driving the activity.
“But he was supported by a significant number of individuals.”
Ali Ismail, 29, of Dickenson Road, Rusholme, admitted possessing a firearm – the Magnum – with intent to cause fear of violence; possession of prohibited ammunition; and having an article with a blade or a point.
A 15-year-old admitted handling stolen goods and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
A fourth man, Omar Berryman, 31, was cleared of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and of possessing a firearm with intent to cause another to believe unlawful violence would be used against them, at a Manchester Crown Court trial this week.
Supt Dexter said: “There’s no doubting the significance of the convictions and the impact it will have on the communities of Manchester. The risk posed by these individuals was real and had already been experienced in the community.
“This was one of the most challenging operations in recent years and for that I commend the gallant work of officers from GMP and ROCU on this operation.”