Crime boss who paid school fees in cash jailed over part in UK-wide drug operation

Bell was found to own 34 properties, mostly in east Manchester, had two villas in Spain and lived in a rented, £2,200 per month apartment in the Cheshire village of Prestbury.

The crime boss has been sentenced to 18 years and nine months behind bars at Manchester Crown Court.

He was sentenced for his role in directing the sale and supply of Class A and B controlled drugs.

Detective Inspector Richard Castley of Greater Manchester Police said: "Gregory Bell was not just a drug dealer; he was the head of a criminal enterprise that reached into every corner of the UK.

"This was a man who profited from the misery that drug dealing and use has on our communities, not just in Manchester but the entire country."

The court heard Bell "operated like a CEO", using encrypted phones, fake identities, and a series of couriers and safe houses to move a large scale of drugs and launder millions of pounds.

Mr Bell sent his daughter to a private school and always paid her fees by leaving an envelope of cash with the school receptionist, the court heard.

An array of designer clothes and valuable items, worth upwards of £70,000, were found at his home address.

Prosecutor David Temkin KC said: "The police also discovered that Bell had a serious and long-standing addiction to gambling, spending tens of thousands of pounds at various casinos.

"By way of example, police investigations show that Bell had staked some £1.5million at Ladbrokes with some £1.3million in returns, and he had staked some £696,000 at Betfred with some £527,000 in returns."

Bell's drug operation dealt in multiple kilos of cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamine and cannabis on a daily basis.

The court heard he was the leader of what Mr Temkin called a "highly sophisticated" organised crime group.

Cocaine was regularly sold at prices between £37,000 and £43,500 per kilo, with cannabis between £4,000 and £4,600 per kilo.

Bell was also found to be using a pair of "safe houses" in Moss Lane, Alderley Edge, and Coniston Drive, Bury, to store the drugs, which couriers would collect and then deliver in vehicles containing special compartments to hide the cargo.

Police viewed, saved and analysed messages from Bell's encrypted encrophone, after French and Dutch law enforcement agencies worked out in early 2020 how to access material on the devices.

More than 70 names of drug suppliers and customers spanning the UK were found in his phone contact list.

Bell pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to money laundering and conspiracy to supply cocaine, diamorphine, ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis.

A close associate of Bell, Ian Ogden, was jailed for 16 years and eight months after he admitted the same offences as his boss.

Paul Brown, a third defendant, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis.

Five other members of the gang received jail sentences.

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