TODD FITZGERALD
ONE of the country’s most wanted men - who tried to flood Greater Manchester’s streets with cocaine - has been jailed following a sixyear manhunt.
Simon Dutton was described by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as ‘dangerous and violent’ and was finally tracked down in Greece.
The 39-year-old was snared following an investigation into the trafficking of cocaine from Spain into the north west of England.
He had a ‘cocaine factory’ in Stockport, which was raided in 2009, and was planning to ship huge quantities of the class A drug into Greater Manchester.
When Dutton was caught in December, he told Greek police he was a Romanian national, before then claiming he was from Bulgaria.
The NCA teamed-up with Greater Manchester Police and Cheshire Constabulary to bring down the gang kingpin, who has now been jailed for 14 years at Liverpool Crown Court.
Dutton, from Bolton, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and money laundering.
He used an unsuspecting courier service to import freight into the UK from Spain between July and September 2009, concealing cocaine in the shipments.
Dutton and his associates also set up a company in Leeds to enable the shipments to enter Britain, before moving them to a Stockport warehouse and other locations across the region.
In September 2009, officers intercepted 10.5kg of cocaine with a street value of £1.5m stashed in the air conditioning units.
When police searched five properties across Greater Manchester linked to Dutton, they found large quantities of cocaine, drug-making equipment, weapons, cash and false documentation.
The rest of Dutton’s gang were arrested in April 2010 and convicted at Liverpool Crown Court.
In total, 18 people were convicted as part of the investigation and sentenced to over 170 years in prison.
After his gang members were arrested, Dutton evaded capture and fled the UK, before a European arrest warrant was issued.
He used a forged Irish passport to travel around the continent undetected around 30 times - and set up an account in a false name to launder cash.
Dutton was finally arrested on December 27 after being traced to a hotel in Thessaloniki.