European hunt for Formby man who is head of cocaine gang

Dominic McInally believed to be on run abroad as five men jailed for 48 years

Dominic McInally from Formby is wanted on suspicion of drug offences

The alleged kingpin of a cocaine gang that expected to bank £1.25m every month is on the run in Europe, police believe.

Dominic McInally is suspected of heading up a mob who travelled to the border of France and Belgium to pick up a six kilogram coke consignment.

But the package, secreted in a “hide” inside a Seat Leon car was intercepted by Merseyside Police who swooped on the gang near Crosby.

Now, detectives say they are hunting McInally, from Formby, who is suspected of being at the very top of the drug gang.

An European Arrest Warrant has been issued for the 25-year-old as he is suspected of fleeing the country.

Liverpool gang caught trying to flood the UK with high purity cocaine. Left to right: William Marsh, Christopher Corry, Jordan Talbot and Ryan McQueen

Five men were yesterday jailed for a total of 48 years for the monthly £1.25m plot, which could have seen the criminals smuggling up to 24 kilos into Britain every 30 days.

Jordan Talbot, 22, of Elson Road, Formby, received six-and-a-half years and William Marsh, 28, of Rock Lane, Melling, was locked up for ten years and eight months.

James Gradwell, 24, jailed for 13 years and seven months for drug importation

James Gradwell, 24, of no fixed abode, was handed 13 years and seven months in jail yesterday. Christopher Corry, 41, of Halifax Crescent, Thornton, received 11-and-a-half years and Ryan McQueen, 32, of Laurel Vale, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was given six years.

Seat Leon car used by James Gradwell to smuggle drugs from the continent. The car was adapted to store cocaine in the transmission

Det Supt Lee Turner said: “Despite the conviction of these offenders, this is still an open investigation and I would like to take this opportunity to appeal for the public’s help in tracing Dominic McInally as we believe he may have vital information in relation to this conspiracy.

“I would urge McInally, or anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact us.”

At court, Judge Norman Wright, while sentencing Gradwell, said: “There is another man for whom there is an European Arrest Warrant.

“That man was the very top of this conspiracy and that man had a leading role.”

The Seat Leon was used as a ‘Trojan horse’ in January 2014 to hide the cocaine, with the gang describing it as a ‘pie car’, a slang term for a vehicle able to hide illicit substances.

Pictures show how the ‘hide’ was in a constructed box within the transmission tunnel.

The gang used a special Blackberry phone, which had a security feature meaning emails couldn’t be read by prying eyes.

Message showed Gradwell boasting of quaffing champagne and sniffing ‘Charlie’ - slang for cocaine - on a ferry.

Story and photo source: Liverpool Echo by Luke Traynor