Crime boss Craig Anthony ordered to repay £125,000 of £3m drug profits
Craig Anthony led an organized crime gang that transported kilograms of cocaine from Liverpool
A gang boss who arranged for 65kg of cocaine to be transported from Liverpool to south Wales only has to pay back £125,000 of his £3m profits. Craig Anthony, 34, headed up the organised crime group (OCG) from his base in Porth in Wales and used EncroChat devices to hide from police.
But a ledger belonging to a Liverpool-based courier made repeated references to transactions made to "Cardiff" - a codename used by Anthony. Courier Neil Croston was seen making journeys from Merseyside to Porth with an exchange of drugs and cash taking place. Croston was arrested in Brecon in 2019, while the ledger was found at his home.
There were 10 journeys between Liverpool and south Wales over a six-month period with a total of 65kg of cocaine exchanged for £2m in cash. The onward sale of the drugs supplied to "Cardiff" was estimated to be between £4.9m and £6.6m.
Anthony, of Gethin Terrace in Porth, Wales, was subsequently arrested in January 2020 and sentenced to 18 years and six months’ imprisonment. Appearing this week before a proceedings of crime hearing, Anthony was said to have benefited to the tune of £3,205,628. However, WalesOnline reported the court heard he only has assets worth £125,375 and Judge Shoman Khan ordered him to pay the latter sum within two months or serve an additional 18 months’ in jail.
During his first appearance in court, the prosecution said Anthony and the couriers who worked under his direction were put under surveillance following Croston’s arrest. The defendant and his associates were seen taking part in a number of suspected drug deals and Anthony was arrested on January 22 2020.
A Yass mobile phone was seized which had an Israeli sim card to allow calls to be made through a "spoofing" application to conceal the identity of the caller. When asked to provide the pin Anthony said he would "wait to see what the police had on him first".
Following the arrest a new encrypted phone with the handle "Packwhale" was activated by Anthony. Data from this phone revealed the user had handed over £115,000 to Croston in May 2019 and had been using couriers for several months. As a result of the evidence against him he was further arrested in June 2020.
Addressing Anthony at Cardiff Crown Court last year Judge Shoman Khan said: "The amount of money that passed through your hands, I undoubtedly expect you had expectations of significant financial advantage." Anthony pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
A block of cocaine found in the possession of the drug gangs run by Craig Anthony and Luke Mattan(Image: South Wales Police)
’Packwhale’ and ’Tenderpuma’
Anthony was found to be in regular contact with the handle "Tenderpuma" which was being used by Luke Matta, leader of another crime gang. An investigation was also launched into Mattan, who was involved in the supply of 12kg of cocaine.
Also involved with Joseph Thomas-Mullen, 49, a member of the Liverpool gang based in south Wales who would collect debt money from Mattan on behalf of an upstream supplier. In April 2020, an arrangement was made for Mattan to purchase 5kg of cocaine for £195,000 from Thomas-Mullen and the upstream supplier.
Mattan was also given two keyworker certificates to be used by his couriers in case they were stopped by police during the Covid-19 lockdown. Mattan’s courier Carla Trace drove a hired Nissan Juke wearing a carers uniform to London on April 5 2020, to pick up the 5kg of cocaine before stopping at an address in Fairwater, Cardiff, where Abdullah lived. Trace was arrested on April 23 2020.
Mattan was arrested on June 17 2020 and Thomas-Mullen on July 17 2020 at Cardiff Airport upon returning from Malaga. Mattan’s siblings, Kirsty Mattan and Jordan Mattan were also involved in the enterprise as couriers. In April 2020, Kirsty Mattan collected £14,480 on behalf of her brother. She also acted as a courier by delivering money and a gram of cocaine to Thomas-Mullen.
Kirsty Mattan was arrested in August 2020 and denied being involved, but claimed others had access to her phone. Jordan Mattan, who acted as a ’storeman’ of class A drugs, was arrested on June 17. He was found to have delivered 600g of cocaine to Porth in March 2020.
Another gang member, Paul Jones, 35, became involved in order to "cover for" Anthony while he was on holiday, and would collect and deliver drugs. In messages, Jones, aka Eggsy, was described as Anthony’s "best friend" and would facilitate payments for kilogram quantities of cocaine.
Luke Mattan was sentenced to 15 years and eight months’ imprisonment; Jordan Mattan was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment; Trace was sentenced to seven years in prison; Jones was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment; Thomas-Mullen received 11 years imprisonment; and Kirsty Mattan received 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months and 100 hours of unpaid work.
World Affairs Correspondent
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