The family was kept under surveillance and after a series of raids police found large quantities of heroin and ecstasy-type tablets, many rounds of ammunition, sets of body armour, a CS gas canister and an SA80 army assault rifle.
The Whitney family and their cohorts were responsible for what Merseyside Police have called a "drugs cash-and-carry business creating a massive crime wave and bringing misery to some of society's most vulnerable people."
As the police tracked the Whitneys down one by one the dealers left a trail of incriminating evidence.
One associate, Matthew Mayor (37), flung packets of heroin out of his Mercedes car window during a police chase.
Surveillance footage shows the packets exploding in dust clouds as Mayor tried to escape through rush-hour traffic.
Mum Emma McKenzie, aged 29, tried to hide cocaine wraps in a nappy bag during a raid on her mother Mary McCabe's house.
When McCabe herself was stopped in her car by police officers, her granddaughter was strapped into a baby seat above bags of drugs and ammunition.
In the boot was an SA80 army assault rifle.
When "matriarch and banker" Carol Whitney's house was raided police found more than 500 heroin wraps hanging from a bush in her garden.
She was claiming invalidity benefit despite depositing hundreds of thousands of pounds in her bank account.
Armed officers stormed her estranged husband Leslie Whitney's house and ended up chasing him through the property as he tried to dispose of his stash of heroin.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Doherty said: "These people were living on the backs of the most vulnerable in our society.
"They dealt with drugs near to schools. They exploited everything.
"They have nice holiday homes, they go on exotic holidays...all on the back of drugs.
"My description of them would be 'parasites.'
No comments:
Post a Comment