Range Rovers, a Rolex... and a gender reveal party: The father and son who lived just doors apart while operating a £4MILLION cocaine and cannabis plot that spread 'violence and misery'
03.04.2024 - 11:49
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A father and son have been locked up over a plot to supply cocaine and cannabis worth £4million.
Antony Peers, 67, and his 37-year-old son - also called Antony Peers - were jailed last week for their part in a huge drugs conspiracy in the Astley and Tyldesley areas. Greater Manchester Police said the father and son had been 'operating the enterprise for years'.
They played different roles in the plot while living just doors apart from each other on North Lane in Astley. The younger Antony Peers used the Encrochat handle 'Tubbyfern' to communicate with others and organise sourcing and supplying the cocaine.
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He also operated cannabis farms, police said. The older Anthony Peers also 'played a vital role' in the operation, using a hydraulic press to mix and re-press blocks of cocaine in his garage.
Three other men, Ricky Lee, 31, Christopher Gresty, 56, and his son Louis Gresty, 25, all from Salford, were jailed last December for their roles in the crime racket. The operation was smashed by GMP as part of Operation Venetic, the force's initiative to mine incriminating data hacked by law enforcement from EncroChat's servers in northern France in April 2020.
Police said Peers and Peers were 'criminal associates' of Lee and Gresty. On March 16 last year, officers raided five properties and arrested the father and son.
They seized drugs, wardrobes full of designer clothes, a Range Rover Evoque, mountain bikes and a Rolex watch and jewellery. A 30-tonne hydraulic press and cannabis growing equipment were also seized.
Officers found the Peers' owned several houses on North Lane and in the surrounding area. The pair, both of