According to major media reports, the gang included three generations of the same family. Kingpins Shaun Lau and Daniel Yeboah were both handed 20-year jail terms by Judge Stuart Rafferty at Nottingham Crown Court. Nottinghamshire Police said Shaun Lau and Daniel Yeboah were already serving time for drug trafficking and attempted to run their operations from their prison cells through an illegally obtained mobile phone device.
The gang attempted to flood the city and county with drugs, including 'a super heroin' mixed with fentanyl, which can be fatal. Shaun Lau and Daniel Yeboah were in close contact with Hayley Price, from Sherwood, who ensured the drugs were collected and distributed. Hayley Price brought her own daughter and mother into the operation.
Angela Price, 61, of Greythorn Drive, West Bridgford, was being paid £250 for receiving half a kilo of cocaine hidden in biscuits, which was intercepted by Border Force officers at Gatwick Airport. The operation came crashing to the ground in August 2023 when a drone packed full of drugs hit a tree outside HMP Parc in South Wales. The drone's destination was inmate Shaun Lau, who was planning to distribute the drugs amongst his fellow prisoners.
Drone controller Hayley Price, assisted by her daughter Kaci-leigh Stones, 20, returned with a torch to try and locate the crashed device. The exact composition and source of the 'super heroin' mixed with fentanyl has not been disclosed. Detective Inspector James McDonagh said this was a complex investigation to bring down a major drug-dealing enterprise.
He added that drugs, including fentanyl and heroin, destroy lives and are closely linked to other acquisitive crimes such as burglary, robbery, retail crime, and theft, which impact law-abiding residents. The investigation into other potential accomplices or networks is ongoing.