A 24/7 cocaine gang was jailed for over 63 years after offering a special discount to celebrate the release of a Premier League footballer's kidnapped father. The gang, led by Paul Lockyer, sent a message to 9,000 customers, offering '3 for £75' on cocaine for an hour after Luis Diaz's father was released from captivity in November 2023. This was part of a larger operation involving a network of people producing, selling, and supplying two types of cocaine - high-purity 'flake' and adulterated 'mix' - across Liverpool. The gang members worked shifts to fulfill hundreds of orders, storing the drug at various houses. Lockyer's luxury lifestyle, including designer jewelry, private yacht holidays, and expensive cars, was funded by the drug sales. The investigation, led by the Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership, recovered 874g of cocaine with a street value of around £89k, drug-mixing equipment, and approximately £3,500 in cash. The gang's 'graft phone' had over 9,000 contacts, with thousands of messages detailing daily drug sales and special offers. The NCA Senior Manager, Jon Hughes, emphasized the gang's harmful impact, comparing it to a 'fast food delivery service for drugs.' The group is estimated to have dealt at least 9.9kg of cocaine, making over £620,000 from deals between October 2023 and May 2025. Cocaine is a highly harmful drug, linked to thousands of deaths in the UK. The gang's activities caused significant harm to people and communities in Liverpool, and their sentence highlights the severity of the crime.
