Moment drug ‘kingpin’ who ran secret ?1m amphetamine lab arrested

21/04/2023

This was the moment a drug “kingpin” who ran a £1m operation was arrested.

Terence Earle, from St Helens ^[1], was behind an organised crime group which operated a secret amphetamine lab and trafficked lorry loads of heroin and cocaine between Merseyside ^[2] and Scotland. Meanwhile, chemicals used in producing the speed were stashed at a holiday park on the outskirts of Blackpool.

The 49-year-old used EncroChat to organise his criminality ^[3] and enlisted the help of Stanley Feerick, 68, and Stephen Singleton, 36, from Liverpool, and Stephen King, 49, from Dumbarton, Scotland.

In December 2020, Lancashire Police, acting on NCA intelligence, seized more than 560 kilos of alpha-phenylacetoacetamide (APAA) – a chemical used in the production of amphetamine – from the group, which Singleton had supplied. This would have been capable of producing around £1.1m worth of amphetamine at the lab in Scotland.

The substance was found in a lorry which had been loaded from a warehouse on an industrial estate near a caravan park in Weeton, Lancashire, on the orders of Feerick. The previous month, Feerick was arrested by police as he drove a lorry southbound on the M6 motorway.

Officers discovered a holdall containing 2.9 kilos of heroin worth £300,000, and £20,000 in cash. A search of Feerick’s home led to the recovery of another £9,370 in cash.

Investigations also found Earle had also used EncroChat to oversee the trafficking of heroin and cocaine from Scotland to Merseyside,^[5] and in the opposite direction, with the assistance of Lee Baxter, 48, of Huyton.

Pictured (left to right): Terence Earle, Stephen Singleton, Lee Baxter and Stephen King (Image: NCA)

All of the group members were arrested by the NCA in March 2021. A video shared by the NCA shows Earle being arrested at his home in St Helens.

The clip shows the drug boss being led out of the house in handcuffs by officers. At one point he points at the camera, however it is unclear what he said. He is then led into an unmarked police car.

Earle and Baxter pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court ^[6] on October 3 last year, with Feerick changing his plea to guilty on the day he was due to stand trial. King was convicted by a jury on December 15, following an eight-day trial. Singleton pleaded guilty on February 9 this year.

Earle was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday. Singleton was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, Baxter to 22 months (suspended for 18 months) and King to 18 months (suspended for 18 months). Feerick is due to be sentenced on May 3.

Terence Earle (Image: National Crime Agency)

NCA Branch Commander Richie Davies said: “This crime group posed a serious threat to communities across Scotland and Merseyside. They were intent on profiting from producing and supplying illegal drugs on a large scale, despite knowing the danger those drugs posed to users and others affected by the violence and exploitation fuelled by the trade.

“They tried to conceal their unlawful activities but the NCA’s investigation, supported by our partners in Scotland and Lancashire Police, has dismantled their criminal group. Today’s sentencing demonstrates the importance of the NCA’s work to protect the public from the highest risk criminals impacting on the UK.”

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