Drug trafficker kingpin Thomas Maher to repay £630k ill-gotten gains

Thomas Maher bragged about being involved in organised crime for more than 20 years and even paid himself less than minimum wage for tax purposes.

However, the 42-year-old lived a luxurious lifestyle, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on cars, holidays and jewellery.

Maher, of Wiltshire Close in Woolston, was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in December 2020.

This came after he after pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two charges relating to the import of class A drugs into the UK and two charges of money laundering.

His lucrative operation was taken down through evidence obtained by the National Crime Agency as part of Operation Venetic – the UK law enforcement response to the takedown of encrypted global communications service EncroChat.

Police at Maher's Wiltshire Close home in Woolston

This showed that he operated a transportation network spanning Europe, moving drugs into the UK and Ireland and the profits in the other direction.

Yesterday, Monday, Maher appeared back before Liverpool Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, to learn how much of his ill-gotten gains.

Judge David Potter made a confiscation order for £629,159.15, including his detached Woolston house, cars, lorries, jewellery, a number of high value watches, artwork and gold ingots bought in Dubai.

The court ordered that he must pay the sum back within three months or face an extra six years in jail.

Following the hearing, Rob Burgess, head of asset denial at the NCA, said: “This significant result demonstrates the agency’s ability to recover criminal assets and prevent criminals from benefitting from their wrongdoing.

“Maher was a career criminal who was trusted by some of Europe’s biggest crime groups to move their drugs and money.

Maher's vehicles were also confiscated

“The confiscation order will ensure money he made will be returned to the public purse to fund further efforts to protect the public from organised crime.”

Maher came onto the NCA’s radar after he was arrested as part of the investigation into the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry in Purfleet in October 2019.

The tractor unit involved had at one point been owned by Maher, and it was still registered in his wife’s name, even after it was sold.

Maher was released with no further action taken by Essex Police, but an NCA financial investigation revealed that despite him and his wife being on less than minimum wage for tax purposes, they lived a luxurious lifestyle.

During a seven-month surveillance operation NCA officers watched Maher meet with criminal associates at hotels and in public spaces in the north west to organise the trafficking of cocaine from the Netherlands to the UK and Ireland.

Maher was snared following an NCA surveillance operation

As well as drugs, Maher also helped to facilitate the movement of large sums of cash, charging a commission for his involvement.

NCA officers arrested Maher on June 13, 2020 at his home in Woolston after receiving intelligence that he planned to leave the country.

Police executed a search warrant at his Wiltshire Close home, with two Range Rovers, a Chevrolet spots car and a motorbike seized.

The NCA investigation revealed that the couple owned cars worth more than £200,000, jewellery and watches worth hundreds of thousands, and had spent around £90,000 on holidays over three years.

EncroChat messages revealed in April 2020 he orchestrated the collection and delivery of at least 21 kilos of cocaine from locations in the Netherlands.

Associates reported back to Maher when the drugs were picked up, transported and arrived at their final destination in Ireland.

Expensive designer watches were seized

In one exchange of messages, Maher discussed the best ports to use with a co-conspirator. He told him: “I'm at this game the last 20 odd years pal, I'm not an over nighter so I know the way of plays.”

In another exchange, he joked how he was in a great position to take advantage once coronavirus lockdown restrictions were eased, saying: “Once we get this travel ban lifted…we be laughing mate. I’m telling u that’s why I’m not stressing yet.”

As well as drugs, Maher arranged for €305,000 to be transported from Ireland to Holland on behalf of one of his associates, who he charged a commission for his involvement.

An Garda Síochána in Drogheda, Ireland, seized a further €600,000 in transit and arrested three people. Maher arranged for the movement of this cash.

Upon his release from jail, he will be subject to a serious crime prevention order, restricting his communications, finances and ownership of companies.

Cash seized by police linked to Maher's operations

Following his sentencing, NCA branch commander Martin Clarke said: “Maher moved in the highest criminal circles.

“He acted as a logistics man for some of the UK, Ireland and Europe’s most notorious organised crime groups who trusted him with their drugs and money.

“We believe the offences he has been convicted of represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his overall criminality.

“He bragged in EncroChat messages about being involved in organised crime for over 20 years, during which time it is highly likely he shipped tonnes of drugs and tens of millions of pounds around Europe.

“After a painstaking investigation, we have been able to bring him to justice. That investigation has not stopped.

“We will use all the tools available to hit him where it hurts – in the pocket – to ensure he cannot continue his luxury lifestyle when he is released.”