Some of eastern England’s most dangerous criminals were among those jailed for nearly 350 years in 2022 following investigations by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).
ERSOU manages the threat of serious organised crime and terrorism in the region and led operations which jailed 49 offenders for 346 years over the last 12 months.
Dressed in Nazi clothing
The criminals locked up included those importing heroin and cocaine from abroad, fraudsters looking to target peoples’ money and a man who turned up at court dressed in Nazi clothing.
In addition, just over 40 kilogrammes of cocaine with a potential street value of more than £2.4 million was confiscated by officers, along with 15.5 kilogrammes of heroin with a potential street value of £930,000.
Other items seized included £582,000 in cash, six firearms and 14 other weapons such as samurai swords, crossbows and knives.
Notable results in 2022 included:
- The final members of a drugs network that distributed class A drugs across the country were jailed, taking the total to more than 129 years.
- A man who distributed anti-Semitic leaflets before turning up at court dressed in Nazi clothing was jailed for eight years.
- Nine fraudsters were jailed for a scam selling fake rugby tickets worth £1.8 million.
- A career conman who regularly changed his name by deed poll to con companies out of hundreds of thousands of pounds was jailed for nine years.
- A garage owner who helped a gang burgle more than 200 homes was ordered to repay more than £1 million of his illicit gains.
ERSOU’s officers and staff use a range of specialist tactics and work closely alongside police forces and partner agencies to disrupt dangerous offenders operating across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent.
Alongside tackling organised crime, financial investigators also worked to maximise Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) powers to strip criminals of their ill-gotten gains.
£5.5 million was confiscated
Throughout 2022, almost £5.5 million was confiscated from offenders in eastern England, with those who don’t pay facing extended jail sentences. The money is often taken back from drug dealers and is calculated by the amount they are thought to have earned through illegal means.
Investigators were also able to return more than £2.5 million to victims of crime.
Detective Superintendent Josie Hayes, head of ERSOU’s Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “Our teams are relentless in their pursuit of the criminals behind some of the most destructive organised crime groups in our region, and I have no doubt our investigators have had a significant impact in removing some very dangerous people from our communities.
“We have officers and staff working tirelessly to understand the habits of criminals and gangs and how they operate, so we can better understand the threat they pose and how we can apprehend them. Once we do so, we build thorough evidence packages to ensure that they face considerable time behind bars.
“This work is often incredibly complex and challenging, and I would like to thank all our teams for their dedication and hard work in keeping the eastern region safe.”