Ealing Man Who Helped Supply 100 Kilos of Cocaine Jailed
Aaron Wise had fled to Marbella before being captured
Left: Aaron Wise. Right: A box of cash found when the police arrested other members of the gang. Picture: Met Police
August 6, 2024
A man from Ealing who was the mastermind behind a multi-million pound drug network operating in London has been jailed after being on the run for over three years.
33-year-old Aaron Wise, who was living on Wyndham Road at the time of the offences, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on last Friday (2 August) at Isleworth Crown Court for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
After a number of his fellow gang members were arrested in 2020 following a four-year investigation into the gang by the Met and the National Crime Agency (NCA), Wise fled abroad. Eventually he was tracked down to Marbella and detained and extradited with the assistance of the Spanish authorities.
The network had been dismantled after an encrypted communications platform, EncroChat, was infiltrated by overseas law enforcement agencies. This enabled a covert operation to investigate the highly organised group of which Wise was a key figure along with four other men from the Ealing area.
Met officers analysed over four years of phone data to unravel the true extent of the network’s reach across London. The court heard how the gang supplied over 100kg of cocaine to Londoners between 2019-2020 – an estimated street value of £8 million.
20-year-old Georgie Norris of Burnham Way received 12 years and eight months imprisonment, 38-year-old Mark Breagan, of Evergreen Court, Ruislip Road, was sentenced to 10 years and four months imprisonment and 21-year-old Alfie Whitbread of Cambridge Road, Ealing, got eight years and 10 months. They were sentenced alongside 32-year-old Matthew O’Brien of Northdown Close, Ruislip, who received 15 years and nine months. All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs on 18 March 2022.
Mark Breagan, Alfie Whitbread and Georgie Norris. Picture: Met Police
The men were the west London part of a capital-wide operation. The east London group included 32-year-old Lee Willetts of Greenford who was one of three men jailed on drug charges at Woolwich Crown Court in September 2021.
The west London supplied cocaine to the east London group with O’Brien, Norris, Breagan, Whitbread acting as associates to arrange the distribution of multiple kilos of cocaine. On a weekly basis, the west London group were supplying in excess of 10 kilos of cocaine for onwards distribution to east London’s ultimate market in Kent and the south east of England.
The police believe that Wise was the mastermind behind the organisation and in charge of splitting the network into drug couriers and cash couriers, making the group harder for officers to track down.
Cocaine seized during the original raid. Picture: Met Police
One member of the gang, 58-year-old James Lee formerly of Darcy Court, West Malling, is the only outstanding member of the group. If you have any information on his whereabouts you are asked to call 101 or you can also provide information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Detective Constable Gary Jopling, leading the investigation, said, “We know the impact drugs have on our communities. They lead to addiction, anti-social behaviour and violence, destroying people's lives and ripping families apart. That’s why we’re pursuing those who seek to profit from the illegal drugs trade and fuel these destructive addictions.
“We are determined to keep dangerous people off the streets of London to tackle drug criminality and make the capital a safer place to live, work and raise a family.”
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