Semi-pro footballers’ £260m cocaine empire brought crashing down like ‘house of cards’
A football team living a double life as a “highly-organised” drugs gang have been jailed after a drugs bust unearthed a £260million haul of cocaine and ketamine.
The squad of six were dismantled after one of their teammates was found with a holdall containing eight kilos of Class A drugs,
Police captured Luke Skeete, 26, as he drove a small panel van packed with eight kilos of Class A drugs, bringing the criminal network crashing down like a “house of cards”, police said.
Dashcam footage from a car involved in one deal shows Skeete parking up in his white van and passing over a large bag of drugs in October 2022.
He was stopped by police where officers found 8kg of cocaine in the rear of the vehicle.
Skeete was arrested and a further 123kg of cocaine and 224kg of ketamine was recovered from storage units in west London he had control of.
He was arrested in September last year and his phone was picked apart by specialists who discovered a secure messaging app linking him to teammates Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick, 29, Jamarl Joseph, 28, Adam Pepara, 35, Andrew Harewood, 34, and Melchi Emanuel-Williamson, 29.
Police found each had an individual handle to conceal their true identities and evade police, as they worked to uncover the “sophisticated, professional business model” the group were operating to supply cocaine through the UK.
It was found that between 10 April 2022 and 20 October 2022, they had all conspired to supply in excess of 2.7tonnes of high grade cocaine with an estimated street value of £208,160,000 to £260,200,000.
On 28 September 2023, Specialist Crime officers carried out arrest warrants at addresses linked to the group in London and Birmingham
At Isleworth Crown Court, Skeete, of Evergreen Drive, West Drayton, and Chesham United forward Hippolyte-Patrick, of Delgarno Gardens, North Kensington, received 13 years and one month and 18 years and nine months respectively for their roles.
Joseph, of Lily Gardens, Wembley, who plays for Slovakian side FK Senica, received 17 years and six months.
Police Constable Perry, from Specialist Crime North, said: “The operation we’ve dismantled here is not some minor undertaking, involving a group of chancers – this is a highly organised criminal group who were supplying drugs on an industrial scale throughout the UK.
“The sentences received reflect the gravity of what they had been doing. This is a criminal group who had otherwise promising careers – semi-pro footballers with other jobs and courses they were undertaking – but they were motivated by making money from drugs that fuel misery and violence on our streets.
“Anyone else wondering if they can make cash from this type of activity should take a look at these sentences and think again, because it’s only a matter of time before you are caught.”
Detective Constable Janes, from Specialist Crime North, said: “With Skeete’s arrest we brought this house of cards down.
“After he was detained we secured valuable evidence on his mobile phone, helping us launch another investigation that led to us identifying his conspirators.
“Forensic examination of that device and invaluable CCTV evidence helped us compile a case so compelling that none of them had any choice but to plead guilty.”
