Multi-Million Pound Cocaine Kingpin Busted in Merseyside
Richard Weild, 39, of Wallasey, Merseyside, was the mastermind behind multi-kilo cocaine deals branded with his signature ‘Blacklable’ stamps. Operating on the encrypted EncroChat platform, he flaunted a £70,000 collection of clothes and watches while running a vast drug network.
Big-Time Dealer with an International Reach
Weild’s criminal empire boasted over 50 contacts, including overseas links. He supplied County Lines gangs and organised crime groups across the North West, and as far as Plymouth and Southampton. Locked-down roads were no barrier; his gangs disguised drug hauls using Highways Maintenance vehicles and removals trucks.
Thanks to Operation Venetic, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after EncroChat was cracked in 2020, authorities seized Weild’s messages from March to June 2020. In just four months, he bulked out at least 62 kilos of cocaine for gang clients at £1,500 per kilo, and supplied almost 15 kilos of cocaine, 2 kilos of heroin, and 42 kilos of cannabis to his own users.
From Flashy Lifestyle to Life Behind Bars
Senior NCA manager Mick Maloney blasted Weild: “He made vast amounts of money by happily playing a role in an illegal trade that kills people and destroys lives and communities.” Maloney added Weild will now serve a long stretch in prison, far from the flashy riches he enjoyed.
Disguising himself as a legitimate businessman, Weild owned the Gas Works Motor Company in Liverpool’s Wavertree. Investigators estimate he made over £1 million adulterating hundreds of kilos of cocaine from June 2019 until his arrest in November 2021.
Crackdown Nets Huge Drugs Haul and Luxury Cars
Weild’s assistant John Morris, 50, ran a safe house in Liverpool where drugs were bulked. Police seized around 20 kilos of Class A and B drugs including cocaine, heroin “designer” pills, MDMA, and cannabis, alongside 22 kilos of adulterants and drug-making kit.
Thirteen luxury cars were confiscated from Weild’s motor business as part of a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation into his ill-gotten gains.
“Richard Weild ran a highly sophisticated organised crime group dealing in huge quantities of drugs,” said Judge David Aubrey KC. “He was leading the good life at the expense of others with his trade of misery and destruction.”
Weild pleaded guilty in January 2022 at Liverpool Crown Court to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, MDMA, 2-CB, cannabis, and transferring criminal property. Morris received a 10-year sentence for conspiracy and drug offences.
Despite multiple legal U-turns, including firing barristers and changing pleas, Weild was finally sentenced, marking a major win for Merseyside’s fight against drugs and gun crime.
