Wirral five jailed for nearly 45 years for drugs conspiracy

Benjamin Phillip Crane, from Wakefield Drive, Leasowe; Bradley Gene Grey, 43, of Wakefield Drive, Leasowe; Abbey Crane, 24, of Upton Road, Moreton; Kylie Collins, 36, of Knutsford Green, Moreton and Kay Davies, 64, of Reeds Avenue East, Leasowe, were sentenced as part of Operation Terminal – a widespread investigation into large-scale drugs supply.

The sentences come after detectives identified that a gang of people were operating a “sophisticated drug distribution” business from within a storage unit in Birkenhead.

The gang had amassed extensive quantities of Class A, B and C controlled drugs, including street drugs, and prescription medication, which were then distributed both nationally and internationally, through the ‘dark web’.

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police)

Enquiries revealed the gang predominantly used pre-postage labels and dropped the orders off at a post office in a local convenience store for mailing out via Royal Mail.

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police) As part of the enquiries drugs estimated to be worth between £1.4m and £2.7m were seized.

The seizures included:

• 7kg of MDMA powder (valued between £205,000 and £359,000)
• 125,550 ecstasy tablets (valued between £664,000 and £1.3m)
• 2kg of cocaine 454g of magic mushrooms
• 4kg of LSD 23800 2CB tablets
• 8kg of ketamine (valued between £142,000 and £285,000)
• Over 320,000 prescription-drug tablets including Tapentadol, Diazepam and Tramadol Following intelligence Operation Terminal commenced in 2023.

In a statement, Merseyside Police said that on October 18, Matrix officers executed a search warrant at a premises on a business park in Birkenhead where they located a large quantity of Class A, B & C drugs (including cocaine and ecstasy) in a storage unit.

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police)

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police) A man arrived at the unit a short time later and gave a false name to officers. He was later identified as Benjamin Crane.

Enquiries revealed that the leaseholder of the unit was Grey, Benjamin Crane’s stepfather.

Following their arrests detectives examined CCTV at the storage unit and identified Collins and Abbie Crane, stepsister of Benjamin Crane, as also being present at the unit on a number of occasions.

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police)

Further enquiries enabled detectives to link the activity at the storage unit to a separate investigation at a local convenience store where large numbers of parcels were intercepted and identified as containing Class A,B and C drugs.

This investigation identified Davies attending and posting large quantities of parcels. Davies was arrested in January 2024 and admitted posting parcels on behalf of Benjamin Crane.

Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police) Drugs recovered as part of Operation Terminal, which led to five people being sentenced to nearly 45 years in prison for drugs conspiracy (Image: Merseyside Police)

All five were charged with conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and a trial was heard at Liverpool Crown Court in November 2024. 

The sentencing was adjourned until Friday (January 24).

Benjamin Phillip Crane, 35, of Wakefield Drive, Leasowe, pleaded guilty prior to trial of 11 counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Grey, 43, of Wakefield Drive, Leasowe, pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial to 11 counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs. He was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison.

Abbey Crane, 24, of Upton Road, Moreton, was found guilty after trial of 11 counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Collins, 36, of Knutsford Green, Moreton, was found guilty of 11 counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Davies, 64, of Reeds Avenue East, Leasowe, was found guilty of five counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Detective Sergeant Ste Mercer said: “This was a large-scale drugs enterprise which was being run like a business from a storage unit in Birkenhead.

“The gang worked together to source, pack and deliver the drugs across the whole of the UK and internationally, utilising the Dark Web.

“Suspicions were raised when parcels delivered to the post office were suspected to contain drugs, upon examination hundreds of packages were found to have Class A, B & C drugs inside.

“We carried out a thorough investigation to identify all those who we believed to be involved in either sourcing, packaging or further distributing the drugs. I am sure they believed as their activity was behind the closed doors of a secure unit that they would not be caught out.

“I am pleased they are all now behind bars for a significant period of time where they can no longer continue to spread misery through their actions.

“We know the devastation that drugs cause to families and our communities. Merseyside Police remains relentless in our pursuit of such criminals and ending their drugs trade.

“I hope this result shows that we are committed in our pursuit of these people who think they are above the law and believe they can evade justice.

“We will continue to target criminals by thoroughly examining any evidence and carrying out any necessary searches across Merseyside.”