A family crime mob masterminded by a 65-year-old ‘gangster granny’ has been jailed for more than 100 years for supplying up to £80 million worth of cocaine.
Deborah Mason, dubbed ‘Queen Bee’, recruited relatives into the ‘extraordinarily profitable’ operation which saw nearly a tonne of cocaine shipped across the UK between April and November 2023.
The couriers, each earning £1,000 a day, collected packages of imported cocaine and drove them all over London, as well as Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff.
Ringleader Mason took photos of wads of cash and bragged of making £90,000 from the plot, while raking in £50,000 in benefits at the same time.
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She spent her profits on designer goods, including a £400 Gucci collar and lead for her cat, and was looking to visit Turkey to have cosmetic surgery.
Young mothers who were part of the gang took their young children to pick-ups involving vast quantities of drugs, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Mason, who directed other members of the gang and was in contact with an upstream supplier called Bugsy, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Judge Philip Shorrock told her: ‘You were effectively the site foreman working under the direction of a site manager.
‘You recruited members of your own family – as a mother you should have been setting an example for your children and not corrupting them.’
The judge noted that several of the women have young children but said their involvement in the drug network only ‘makes it easier for unscrupulous’ dealers to seek to recruit mothers.
Earlier, prosecutor Charlotte Hole said: ‘All of the offenders participated in a conspiracy which involved the nationwide supply of around a metric tonne of cocaine, collected usually from areas near ports such as Harwich, and delivered across the country to Bristol, Cardiff, Sheffield, Bradford and so on.’
She added: ‘Everyone involved had an expectation of significant financial advantage, at least £1,000 per trip, and it is one of the most significant parts of the motivation of the conspiracy.
‘They all had an awareness of the scale of the operation.’
Deborah Mason played a ‘leading role’ and was ‘top of the organisation and provided cocaine for the upstream supplier known as Bugsy’.
She took part in 20 trips, delivering 356kg of cocaine, and also made trips to deliver and collect cash.
She was in ‘close contact’ with the upstream supplier using an encrypted app, which had auto-deletion of messages set up, ‘designed to keep the operation secret and messages deleted’.
Ms Hole said: ‘She (Deborah Mason) recruited both her family members – her sister and her children – as well as partners and friends of her children, to a network of at least 10 individuals.’
She also organised those who drove for her, staying in phone contact from the early hours to make sure they were up, and checking in on them during the day.
She did not use pressure or coercion to woo her family into the gang, as they were ‘motivated by financial benefit’.
The court heard she was in receipt of in excess of £50,000 per year in benefit income during the conspiracy period, while acting as ringleader and spending lavishly on luxuries.
Ms Hole said: ‘(You) will recollect the messages seen during the trial with reference to her photographing large amounts of cash, and referring to making £90,000 by the end of the year, as well as her lavish spending on designer goods and expressed intention to travel to Turkey to have cosmetic surgery procedures.’
When Mason was on holiday in Dubai, her daughter Roeseanne Mason, who made seven trips delivering about 166kg of cocaine, stepped in to the directing role, the court heard.
The prosecution said Roeseanne Mason collected cash for her mother and also ‘provided childcare so that others could work’.
Mother-of-two Demi Bright made a single trip in August 2023 which involved 60kg of cocaine.
She took her children with her on the two-day trip, which involved an overnight stay in a hotel. She agreed to deliver more drugs in November 2023 but dropped out.
It appears she stepped back from the drug plot after her sister Roeseanne Mason was arrested, ‘saying she wanted to go straight but she continued to help her mother in the organisation and was aware of its scale’, the court heard.
The prosecution said that ‘most significantly’ she recruited Anita Slaughter to the gang, whom she offered work on a daily basis.
Lillie Bright was involved in 20 trips involving 195kg of cocaine.
Her partner Chloe Hodgkin, 23, of Wye, Kent, is awaiting the birth of her baby and is to be sentenced at a date to be set.
Ms Hole said: ‘The two of them took Lillie Bright’s son with them, who was two at the time, in a car with cardboard boxes containing kilogrammes of cocaine.’
Lillie Bright also had 35g of cocaine she offered for sale, the court heard.
Reggie Bright’s 12 trips as part of the gang delivered at least 90kg and there were times he collected wages for the group.
He usually took trips with his partner, Demi Kendall, 31, telling her ‘not to get the hump because we need the money’, the court heard.
He had been a cocaine user and an addict since his teens and had a brain injury as a result of his misuse.
He claimed he did not know where the drugs were coming from, but encrypted messages on the Signal app show this was not true.
Ms Hole said: ‘He used the Signal alias Frank and was clearly known to, and in direct contact with, the upstream supplier.’
Demi Kendall carried out 15 trips involving 98kg of cocaine, and ‘often’ took her toddler with her in a car.
She also recruited her friend, and later, talking about the plot, told her ‘you’d get years if u got stopped with the amount that we carry – serious jail time’.
Tina Golding made four trips and delivered at least 75kg of cocaine. She collected at least £10,000 in wages.
Anita Slaughter took part in a single trip, which amounted to 55kg across four drops, in October 2023.
Roseanne Mason, 29, of Canonbury, north London, and Demi Bright, 30, of Ashford, Kent, were each sentenced to 11 years imprisonment.
Lillie Bright, 26, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years, and Demi Kendall, 31, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment.
Reggie Bright, 24, of Staplehurst, Kent, was sentenced to 15 years, and Tina Golding, 66, of Ashford, Kent, was jailed for 10 years.
Anita Slaughter, 44, of Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
After sentencing Crown Prosecution Service specialist prosecutor Robert Hutchinson said: ‘This was no ordinary family.
‘Instead of nurturing and caring for her relatives, Deborah Mason recruited them to establish an extraordinarily profitable criminal enterprise that would ultimately put them all behind bars.’
Met Detective Constable Jack Kraushaar, who led the investigation, described it as ‘a sophisticated operation’.
He added: ‘The group were sucked into criminality, selfishly attracted by the financial benefits of the drug-dealing to fund lavish lifestyles.
‘They were unaware we were coming for them and this sentencing should act as a deterrent to those who think about committing this type of crime.’
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