drug baron Robert Henson and his international supply ring was smashed.The 59-year-old and his associates are in jail for a total of 71 years after flooding Tyneside with up to half a ton of cannabis and heroin a week.At the centre of the operation were Henson, of Ancroft Garth, in High Shincliffe, County Durham, and his right-hand man Peter Thirlaway, 38, who lived in a caravan park in Whitley Bay.They referred to cannabis resin as “wood”, heroin as “fluff” and to them money was “bananas”. Their “gear” was always stamped with distinctive fish, or 1 logos.Police tracked the pair and listened in as they met regularly to set up transactions with their foreign contact, “Spanish Billy”, and the man bringing heroin into the North East, Samir Dahou.In one breath Henson would boast he had stock of more than £600,000 and a turnover of £1.5m, then in the next he would call in drug debts to raise £100,000s for new shipments.Police first came close to the ring on July 18 last year when £87,500-worth of heroin was uncovered in a car driven by drug addict Dean Thomson, on the A1 near Teams, Gateshead.Fingerprints linked the stash to Samir Dahou.
On August 14 Henson was still conducting business as usual. Despite growing fears he was being watched, he arranged to buy drugs with a wholesale value of £170,000.
By August 21 he was convinced he was going to take a police “hit” and he told Thirlaway to get rid of their mobiles.Despite his worries the operation continued. Thirlaway kept visiting Manchester for heroin from Dahou and tons of cannabis continued to pour in from foreign shores.At the start of September Henson was recorded saying he was doing three more deals before giving up the drugs trade for good and taking his wife to live abroad.Just a week later a team of officers tracked Thirlaway on the train from Manchester. They confronted him at Newcastle’s Central Station and he instantly owned up to carrying £22,000 of heroin, five mobile phones, and more than £2,500 cash.A second team followed John Rae, a scrapyard owner forced to run drugs to clear his gambling debts.He was watched carrying 100kg of cannabis resin, worth £284,000, from Henson’s drug hideout, in Winlaton Mill, Gateshead, to Bell Industrial Estate, Lemington, Newcastle. Police swooped on him there.Gang member Sean Hewitson, of Rotherford Street, Wallsend, who also brought heroin into the region from Manchester, was another who had nowhere to run when police tracked him down.Henson was picked up at his home. Meanwhile his daughter Amanda Elliot was arrested at her home, in Redwood Close, Hetton, County Durham. Police found more than £8,000 and $900 of drugs money hidden in her kitchen oven.In Manchester the sting closed in on Samir Dahou as police raided his home in Warrington.As officers stormed into his kitchen, the heroin dealer turned to his wife and said: “There’s something I need to tell you. I’ve been moving things. We needed the money.”
Two suitcases opened at the house had £1.5m of heroin and two semi-automatic guns with silencers inside.
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