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Why Was Wayne McKenzie Jailed For 30 Years?
Wayne McKenzie, 48, and his brother Craig imported cocaine and cannabis from the US, Spain, and the Netherlands from March to June 2020.
He was also involved in importing firearms during the same period.
McKenzie, from Liverpool, imported the drugs and then organized for others to transport them through the UK to customers, where they had a street value of £2 million.
He was arrested by the NCA in February 2022 and officers found a burner phone, designer trainers, and documentation relating to a business used for money laundering.
He was charged and recalled to prison as he was already on license for offenses of conspiracy to supply drugs.
McKenzie, who played semi-professional football in England before playing pro in Scandinavia, was convicted on Monday after a two-week trial.
He received a 30-year jail term at Manchester Crown Court today.
Alongside his brother Craig McKenzie, 41, the 48-year-old managed to supply Brit dealers with Class A and B drugs worth more than £2m at street value over four months.
The men were brought down in 2022 after cops hacked the EncroChat phone network the pair had been using to source and sell the drugs.
McKenzie, who was a professional footballer in Scandinavia, appeared in the Liverpool Crown Court last week Friday and was accused of six offenses.
A jury found him guilty and he was jailed for three decades.
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BBC reported The National Crime Agency (NCA) found McKenzie and his brother Craig were connected to the supply of drugs worth a total of more than £2m between March and June 2020.
Most of the drugs the ex-footballer imported were sent to dealers in Liverpool and Manchester, but he also supplied to Wales and London.
He was caught out when French police hacked the EncroChat platform – which is almost exclusively used by criminals – in 2020.
The force then passed on evidence to police throughout Europe.
McKenzie was also found to have been involved in “extensive” discussions about bringing firearms into the country.
In one conversation he boasted about smuggling a gun to the UK hidden in chemical waste – saying the firearm went “straight to kids in London”.
In another, he was chatting to a trawler who could help bring cannabis into the UK.
He was also in contact with “notorious criminals” based in Spain, which helped him launder the profits.
When cops raided jis home they found a heap of hidden phones and a “burner” phone, pairs of expensive designer trainers, and paperwork linked to a business used for money laundering.
And it wasn’t the first time the 48-year-old had been caught out – he had been locked up for drug supply offenses in 2015.
McKenzie had pleaded guilty to being concerned about the supply of cannabis and money laundering in a previous appearance.
Following a two-week trial, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to import firearms, conspiracy to import cannabis, being concerned with the supply of cocaine, and participating in an organized crime group.
Judge Andrew Menary, KC, sentencing, yesterday said McKenzie’s offending “brought misery and destitution to local communities”.
His brother Craig, 41, was thrown behind bars for 20 years in October after being convicted of drug supply offenses.
The family crime group which brought harm to the streets of the UK has been dismantled by the NCA operations.
NCA operations manager, Dean Wallbank, said: ” Those streets are safer with him behind bars.”
