Drugs gang sentenced to 92 years in prison

Guilty:
Top row: Jason Seale, Byron Milne, Steven Petrie, Andrew O’Reilly and Wayne Braund
Bottom row: Edwin Gorlee, Theodorous Van Gelder, Ceri Wilmot, Michael Connolly and Saied Omidi

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A gang of drug dealers, six from Rochdale, have been convicted today (Friday 24 May) and sentenced to a total of 92 and a half years in prison.

The men pleaded guilty to various charges including conspiracy to import controlled substances and conspiracy to supply controlled substances with a street value of between £2.5M and £4.5M.

A raid on a house on Grisedale Road, Castleton in December 2011 led to the arrests of the men where police found 188,734 ecstasy tablets, 176kg of cannabis resin and 67kg of amphetamine. It is believed that the shipment of drugs would then be supplied to wider areas such as Liverpool, Glasgow and London.

Video footage (below) supplied by GMP shows defendant Byron Milne delivering three suitcases to the address shortly before it was raided.

Six men from the Rochdale area were part of the gang and have been jailed.

Byron Milne, 29, of Buckley Lane, who carried drugs to the address that was raided, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and supply controlled substances and was jailed for 14 years and six months.

Andrew O’Reilly, 27, of Welling Avenue, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import controlled substances, conspiracy to supply cannabis and concerning in the supply of cocaine and was sentenced to eight years.

Ceri Wilmot, 41, of Gale Court, Whitworth Road and 28 year old Michael Connolly of Hill Top Drive, both pleaded guilty to conspiring to import controlled substances. Wilmot was jailed for 10 years and Connolly for five years.

Wayne Braund, 31, of Millom Close, whose mobile phone contained incriminating evidence of his drug crimes and Steven Petrie, 47, of Grisedale Road whose home address was used to store the drugs, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and supply controlled substances. Braund was sentenced to nine years and six months and Petrie was jailed for 11 years.

Oldham resident Saied Omidi, 53, of Roundthorn Road, was also sentenced to two years six months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Jason Seale, 45, of Farrington Road, Bacup, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and supply controlled substances and was sentenced to 14 years.

Seale, who has spent time in prison for similar crimes was believed to be “top of the supply network” in terms of drug smuggling. Seale, who has previously been married, led a modest life  and was described by Jason Hudson, head of operations at Titan, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit as “low key.”

Seale was arrested in Holland along with Edwin Gorlee and Theodorus Van Gelder who are natives to that area. Gorlee who is believed to have connections with notorious drug trafficker Curtis Warren was jailed for ten years and Van Gelder will serve 8 years. Gorlee and Van Gelder pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import controlled substances.

Detective Superintendent Jason Hudson said: “We are pleased with the arrest of Seale and the Rochdale gang and are delighted with Gorlee’s arrest and sentence.” He added: “Titan is here to help. We don’t want these people in our community.”