Drugs baron jailed for 16 years for major Wolverhampton heroin racket

Karl Wilson launched the racket in 2002 and controlled it for seven years before fleeing to Jamaica as a police dragnet closed around him.

Now aged 58, he fought a four-year battle against extradition but was returned to this country last July and finally faced justice at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

Derek Jones, 41 from Whitmore Reans - 8 years

Daniel Sterling, 33 from Whitmore Reans - 6 years

Andrew Morgan, 49 from Low Hill - 4 years

Trevor Anderson, 33 from Pennfields - 5 years

Lee Bott, 26 from Telford - 3 years

Kate McTurk, 46 from Ayrshire - 2 years

Sentenced in 2010 were:

Leonard Dixon, 48 from Willenhall - 10 years

Mr Michael Burrows, QC, prosecuting, said: "He was directing and organising, buying and selling heroin and cocaine on a commercial scale and made very substantial financial gain."

Jamaican-born Wilson, who owned properties in Willenhall and rented a string of flats in Aberdeen, started the operation with Melanie Clarke from Vicarage Road, Tettenhall in 2002 and ran it until police swooped in February 2009, two months after he fled to the Caribbean.

Clarke, who agreed to give evidence against Wilson before her death in an accidental fire 12 months ago, told police at the time: "Karl was in control of the drug supplying and everybody had to abide by him. He said what took place and you had to follow what he told you."

Wilson, formerly of Yew Tree Lane, Tettenhall, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and cocaine between March 2002 and February 2009.

Judge Martin Walsh told him: "An orchestrated chain of supply existed between the West Midlands and Aberdeen. The exact volume involved is impossible to calculate but was clearly substantial. You were the organiser and controller. You played a leading part in the recruiting of others and were unquestionably involved in the buying and selling in the expectation of substantial gain. By 2004 many thousands of pounds were being made.

"The commercial dealing of drugs destroys the lives of individuals and blights the communities in which they live which is why those who supply the drugs can expect to receive substantial sentences. You were the lead player in this conspiracy."

Mr Mark Heywood, QC, defending, said: "He knows he has ruined his own life and helped to ruin the lives of many others. His pleas of guilty were entered because he has given up. He is broken."

Superintendent Mike O'Hara from Wolverhampton Police said: "This investigation has been complex and ongoing for a long time. West Midlands Police will leave no stone unturned to identify, locate and prosecute offenders involved in drug related crime.

"Wolverhampton has seen some large scale drug enforcement activity over the last couple of years and it is no less than the people of Wolverhampton deserve.

"Drug dealing blights the lives of our communities and impacts on us all in many terrible ways including driving up the acquisitive crime levels across the city. The issue is regularly identified by our local communities as one of their top concerns and as such we will continue to listen and respond to the people we serve.

"If any member of our community is aware of drug criminality they need to have confidence that we will deal proactively with this intelligence and contact us with any details they may have."