Organised crime members jailed for drug offences

Four members of an organised crime group which peddled drugs across the north of England have been jailed.

David Brierley, Michal Stanislawczuk, Daryll Hall and Safdar Pervez were all given lengthy sentences at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.

The gang purchased large quantities of cocaine as well as chemicals required to make amphetamine, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

The group, which operated between late 2019 and late 2020, was headed by Carl O'Flaherty, who was jailed for 17 years and 10 months in 2023.

The quartet were found guilty of drug supply offences following a trial in November.

Stanislawczuk, 39, and Brierley, 38, were "chefs" in the gang operating across Leeds and Bradford, according to the NCA, with both producing amphetamine.

The gang also bought high purity cocaine, which would then be diluted with cheap chemicals and resold at a higher price to dealers one step down the supply chain.

Pervez, 52, was a taxi driver who moonlighted as a trusted courier for the criminal network, the Agency said.

One of his regular trips was to County Durham to deliver diluted cocaine to 39-year-old Daryll Hall, who was one of O'Flaherty's top customers.

Hall, of Watson Park in Spennymoor, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in his absence, having absconded before his trial.

The NCA said work to locate him was "ongoing".

Brierley, of Woodbridge Green in Leeds, was jailed for 12 years and six months for two counts of conspiracy to supply a Class A drug and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.

Stanislawczuk, was sentenced to 12 years for two counts of conspiracy to supply a Class A drug and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.

Pervez, of City Road in Birmingham, was jailed for 11 years for two counts of conspiracy to supply a Class A drug and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.

NCA operations manager Nigel Coles said: "Our complex and extensive investigation has brought down every member of this dangerous criminal network, from the mastermind behind the conspiracy to couriers transporting both firearms and drugs across the north of England.

"At the NCA we are committed to our mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime, and in dismantling this network we have made our communities a safer place to live."

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