Three men from Salford have been sentenced to a total of 28 years in jail for a £4m drug conspiracy.
The men, who were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, include Ricky Lee, 31, of Eccles Road in Swinton, Christopher Gresty, 56, of Vicars Street in Eccles and Louis Gresty, 25, of Liverpool Street in Salford.
Police executed search warrants at their home addresses in 2021 and again in 2022 and found evidence of a “highly lucrative drug sales” network.
Despite intervention from police, they continued to supply a large customer base in the Salford and Tyldesley area until they were finally remanded into custody in September 2022.
When officers raided Lee’s address on Eccles Road in Swinton, bundles of cash amounting to over £25,000 were found lying around the house under a TV cabinet, in a child’s cot and in bedroom drawers.
At the time Lee stated the cash was ‘from (his) dog business’. However, this wouldn’t be the only occasion he would use his business as a cover for his crimes.
At Christopher Gresty’s flat in Eccles, officers also found bundles of cash amounting to almost £25,000, cocaine, scales, bags, and handwritten debt lists.
Meanwhile, at his son’s (Louis Gresty’s) house, the police entered to find him flushing bags of cocaine down the toilet.
During the trial the court heard how the debt lists seized in 2021 at Gresty’s flat showed that he had not had a day off from supplying cocaine in 40 weeks from the date of the first police entry in 2020.
It was also added that Gresty had supplied over 5kg of cocaine and received payment of approximately £343,000.
In just nine weeks, between March- June 2020 the group moved 43.5 kilograms of cocaine and 11.5 kilograms of cannabis with a street value of over £4m.
Lee in particular was making full use of his profits. He invested money into his business and paid for private IVF treatment with his partner. The police were able to trace over £10,000 spending at one clinic but in Encrochat, Lee claimed to have spent £86,000 over 2 years on this treatment.
Lee later held a ‘gender reveal’ party at his home address during lockdown.
Lee and Gresty were also involved with others in a scam, ripping other dealers off by mixing their cocaine to dilute it and hoping no one would notice the difference.
Detective Constable Walker from the Salford organised crime unit commented: “Lee and the Gresty’s enjoyed significant financial gain from their crimes and the fact that they also continued to offend after their initial arrests demonstrates that only lengthy custodial sentences are suitable.”
Lee Gretsy has been sentenced to a total of 14 years in jail, while Christopher has been sentenced to 11.
Louis Gresty will also face a total of 3 years in jail.
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