Atherton man jailed for part in major drug dealing operation

Simon Buller, 46, of Freshfield Avenue, Atherton was jailed for 15 years and two months after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

With nine other defendants jailed for more than 100 years as part of the same conspiracy in March, including others from Leigh, Atherton, Golborne, and Hindley Green, Buller's case was heard at Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday, September 17.

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Some of the drugs recovered from the criminal group (Image: NWROCU) Operation Matrix began in March 2022 when Cumbria Police asked North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) detectives for help in bringing down local drug dealer, Reece Barnes, who was responsible for selling cocaine in the Windermere area. 

As the investigation progressed, detectives uncovered a wider drugs conspiracy involving crime groups in Cheshire, Manchester, and Cumbria. 

46-year-old Simon Buller was found to be part of a Manchester based crime group who used encrypted messaging platforms to send postcodes of drug deals to their couriers who would use tokens to ensure the drugs were being handed over to the right people. 

Analysis of the messages evidenced that they were working with criminals in Dubai who were controlling the importations of multi-kilos of cocaine from Holland into the UK.

Buller and Andrew Stephens, from Golborne, who was jailed for 20 years in March, were the ‘UK’ heads of their crime gang and would send their couriers to ports along the South coast to collect the drugs for storage in safe houses in Manchester.  

In total Operation Matrix evidenced the supply of approximately 350kg of Cocaine between the various crime groups valued in the region of 53 million pounds.

Buller was jailed for 15 years (Image: NWROCU)

Detective Superintendent Zoe Russo from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: "We welcome the final conviction today which brings the total sentence for these crime groups to more than 120 years.

"The convictions of these individuals has no doubt had a significant impact on drug supply in the North West and the UK as a whole because we have effectively shut down a drug importation route from Holland into the UK. 
  
“Collectively these individual crime groups assisted each other in distributing hundreds of kilos of Cocaine to hundreds of customers across the UK. 
  
“We hope that this sends a message to criminals that you are not untouchable. We are committed to ridding the streets of drugs, robustly dealing with high harm offenders to reduce crime and restore trust and confidence in communities across the North West.

"I'd like to thank our colleagues at Cumbria, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Police as well as the CPS for their help throughout this investigation."