The Operation SubZero probe targeted Vincent Coggins’ gang after he made menacing threats after £1m of cocaine was robbed
The sentencing of a drug dealer who was part of the “senior management” of the Huyton Firm is the culmination of a police probe that resulted in some of the first EncroChat convictions. Edward Robert Jarvis, 59, a key figure in the Merseyside organised crime group (OCG) led by Vincent Coggins, was sentenced today, Friday, October 4 to 25 years’ imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court.
It was only after Jarvis, who used the “SoftHerb” handle, was convicted following a trial earlier this year that the ECHO could finally reveal all about Coggins’ involvement in the UK’s underworld and the investigation to bring him down. The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) probe, codenamed Operation SubZero to indicate the inceptive nature of the investigation, looked into the gang’s multi-kilo importation and distribution of cocaine and heroin throughout Merseyside the UK.
Eight defendants – including gang boss Coggins, 58, and Paul Woodford, a brutal enforcer who sourced grenades and guns – had already pleaded guilty and were sentenced. Jarvis, Coggins’ right hand man, was the final defendant to be convicted after he took his case to trial to challenge the EncroChat data.
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Vincent Coggins’ brother Francis has still not been apprehended and is believed to be in Europe. Police sources told the ECHO they expect the OCG to try and reconsolidate their control but without over half a dozen of their key players their power is significantly weakened.
The conspiracy began to unravel when a Salford criminal family led by Jason and Craig Cox plotted with Merseyside drug dealer Richard Caswell and Ben Monks-Gorton from Lancashire, to rob the Huyton Firm’s OCG’s stash house on Croxdale Road West in West Derby on May 23 2020. The gang stormed the stash house, attacked Paul Glynn and his son with a machete before making off with around £1m of cocaine.
When Coggins, known as “the gaffa” and “headmaster” to his subordinates, found out about the robbery he set about tracking down those responsible through gang members including Jarvis, Woodford and Michael Earle. However, following bad intelligence – potentially provided to him by child murderer Thomas Cashman – Coggins’ went after the wrong people and plotted to attack three men – Brian Maxwell Jr, Michael Eves and Iyobosa Igbanovia.
Coggins’ gang – like many involved in serious criminality during the early months of 2020 – carried out their illicit business on encrypted messaging platform EncroChat. However, they had no idea that authorities in Europe had hacked the technology and retrieved all the messages which showed their plots.
The National Crime Agency (NCA), who had worked with European law enforcement regarding the hack, shared the messages with detectives from NWROCU who began monitoring the gang’s movements. As well as showing the movements of huge shipments of drugs – during a small conspiracy window the gang were involved in the supply of over 350kg of class A drugs – the messages showed Coggins’ deploying his troops to threaten and blackmail Maxwell and his dad Brian Jr.
In one message exchange between Woodford using the “KingWasp” handle and Coggins (MoonLitBoat), they discuss the robbery with Coggins saying “Heads gone. I’ve got the c**t bang to rights. Give *** chance today to give back, f**k the doe m going to kill him an his firm.” The conversation continues and Woodford asks Coggins if he wants him to buy a gun, referring to it as a “belter”. Coggins responds with “M8 just bought load more, we cool for tools.”
Police took action to disrupt and frustrate the gang’s plans and issued threat to life notices, known as Osman warnings, to the three men, as well as Maxwell’s dad, Brian Sr. Unnerved by the increased police presence around the homes of those they believed were responsible, Coggins and his crime group agreed to delay their plans.
Fearing for his son’s life, Maxwell Sr negotiated with Coggins and signed over his house, some land and cash worth more than £1m in exchange for their safety. However, EncroChat messages from Coggins revealed by the ECHO following Jarvis’ trial revealed the gang boss was undeterred in seeking revenge, writing “F*** me still going to kill them all but can take time now leave dad alone”.
EncroChat’s servers were shut down on June 13 2020 and messages were sent to all users telling them there had been a compromise and to destroy their devices. NWROCU detectives and Merseyside Police carried out a series of warrants across Liverpool and Knowsley and arrested Coggins, Earle, Woodford and Jarvis three days later.
In the weeks and months that followed, detectives executed other warrants against the wider crime group, resulting in the arrests of Kevin Rimmer, Darren Tierney, Dean Borrows, and Paul Glynn. Paul Fitzsimmons was arrested in Amsterdam after being on the run for more than two years.
Following the analysis of more than 72,000 EncroChat messages, detectives were able to attribute various handles to the OCG members. They were able to compile a thorough timeline thanks to the OCG’s exchanged texts and photos as well as cell site analysis.
(Image: NWROCU)
This all coincided with police activity and arrests, supporting the evidence that these men were the ones behind the anonymous handles. The messages also showed a hierarchy in the gang, with Coggins at the top, and other members playing various roles in the importation, supply or collection of drugs and cash.
The ECHO revealed following the Jarvis trial that their illicit cargo passed through the Port of Liverpool. Analysis of messages later showed the gang had the help of a corrupt dock worker as well as a police insider, nicknamed “Piggy”, who checked the internal database for updates. Investigating officers said they could find no record of this corruption.
Following the culmination of Jarvis’ sentencing today, the NWROCU confirmed Huyton Firm members had been jailed for more than 155 years for conspiracy to blackmail and class A drug supply. The sentences handed down saw Coggins jailed for 28 years; Woodford jailed for 24 years and six months; Earle jailed for 11 years; Tierney jailed for 12 years and nine months; Fitzsimmons jailed for 12 years and six months; Rimmer jailed for 16 years; Borrows jailed for 14 years and three months; and Glynn jailed for 11 years and two months.
The Cox brothers, Caswell, and Monks-Gorton were jailed for more than 40 years as part of Operation Geladi – an investigation led by officers from Greater Manchester Police into the stash house robbery and machete attacks.
During the sentencing of Jarvis today, the judge told the court the “case was of legal and factual complexity” and was the first EncroChat investigation to be dealt with by the courts. Wayne Johns, the NCA’s senior investigating officer into the EncroChat network, said: “Some of these offenders, including Vincent Coggins, fought tooth and nail to challenge the legality of the case against them before eventually admitting their guilt.
“The NCA and Crown Prosecution Service worked with NWROCU to robustly defend the challenge and we now see the OCG members behind bars for very significant periods.” Detective Chief Inspector Dave Worthington from NWROCU’s operations team added: “This is without doubt the most significant operation that we have dealt with as part of Operation Venetic and I’m delighted that these men are behind bars for a considerable amount of time.
“This notorious crime group ran their operation using encrypted mobile phones they believed to be secure, but thankfully they were mistaken. These were extremely dangerous men, and had we not come across the serious threats of violence from the Coggins OCG through Operation Venetic – this could have been a very different outcome.“It’s clear that the Coggins OCG thought they were untouchable, and their messages untraceable, but with support from the NCA and Merseyside Police, we were able to bring this criminal enterprise to its knees and prove them wrong.”
Operation Venetic – the UK’s response to the EncroChat hacking – has led to the arrest of 233 people on Merseyside along, 195 of whom have been charged. 166 of those charged have been sentenced to 2,107 years in prison and police have recovered four firearms; £2.3m in cash; 100kgs of cocaine; 24kg heroin and 15kg of cannabis.
