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One of the most ruthless gangs in town, brought down by Costco’s Frozen Crispy Duck

One of Merseyside’s most powerful gangs has been brought down by a packet of frozen crispy duck from Costco.

The organized crime ring led by Vincent and Francis Coggins was involved in the trafficking of hundreds of kilograms of Class A drugs worth millions of pounds across the country. The Huyton brothers also plotted a ruthless revenge of violence after a raid on their home by rival gangsters saw them lose around £1 million worth of illicit substances.




A series of court cases heard in the last four years have been subject to a media blackout until today, following the conclusion of the proceedings against the co-conspirator Edward Jarvis. Messages exchanged by the Coggins brothers and their associates via the encrypted communications platform EncroChat can now be detailed, having been aired during a number of trials and sentencing hearings.

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Conversations revealed after the network was infiltrated, French police in 2020 were able to identify Vincent as the user of the handle “MoonlitBoat”, while Francis was said to have used the usernames “TallCanine” and “MixedJet”. Paul Fitzsimmons was linked to the account ‘NorthKnee’ after naming his mother and children while chatting with associates, while Dean Burrows turned out to be ‘OliveScooter’ as he had given his home address and others referred to by his first name.

Similarly, Darren Tierney was called “Dazz” by others while using the handle “ScalpStaff”. The user also detailed how he had been driving a Citroen Berlingo, a van insured in his name to his sister’s address and in which he had previously been stopped by the police, and informed contacts that it was his birthday.

A whole stack of evidence saw Jarvis unmasked as ‘SoftHerb’, who mentioned the names of his children and grandchildren to his contacts. Paul Woodford, using “KingWasp”, also referred to him as “Jarvo”, while another handle, “MexicanNova”, referred to his daughter.

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