Police recovered 83kg of cocaine from the family home as part of their investigations
18:00, 07 Aug 2025Updated 19:08, 07 Aug 2025
Richard (left) and Malcolm Hoyland(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
A dad and son drove their van around the UK delivering huge shipments of cocaine to criminal gangs. Richard Hoyland, 45, and his dad Malcolm, 80, were said to play “pivotal roles in supplying vast quantities of class A drugs” worth millions of pounds.
The pair would make regular trips across the country in their van to areas such as Merseyside to deliver bags of drugs. The pair also drove to the likes of Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall and Essex as part of their plot.
Richard Hoyland was identified as a major supplier of class A drugs before he was arrested on January 27 this year. Officers later executed a warrant at the family address.
Officers recovered 83kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value running into the millions of pounds, inside the property. A further 13kg was found in Richard Hoyland’s bedroom, alongside drug-related paraphernalia and a large machete hidden beneath a sofa.
Surveillance on the Hoylands had gone back further, however. On November 8, 2024, Richard Hoyland was seen supplying a large blue bag to a known figure in another organised crime group (OCG).
Drugs seized from Richard and Malcolm Hoyland(Image: GMP)
That person was given 5kg of cocaine and drove off, but officers intercepted a vehicle en route to Hull and recovered the 5kg of cocaine. Further exchanges that evening linked Richard Hoyland to additional drug deliveries across the Midlands and Yorkshire.
During the search of Richard Hoyland’s van at the time of his arrest, officers recovered a mobile phone, which, along with other seized devices and handwritten notes, provided further evidence of his involvement in the supply chain.
The two men appeared at Manchester Crown Court today, Thursday, where they were both handed to immediate custodial sentences.
A machete seized from Richard Hoyland(Image: GMP)
Richard Hoyland, of Lineholme Avenue, Todmorden, was jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Malcolm Hoyland, of Meade Hill Road, Prestwich, was jailed for seven years and three months for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Detective constable Elle Cartwright, of Greater Manchester Police’s serious organised crime group, said: “This was a sophisticated and highly organised criminal network responsible for flooding communities with harmful drugs.
“Richard Hoyland, along with his father Malcolm, played pivotal roles in supplying vast quantities of class A drugs to gangs across the country. Their convictions are a significant result in our ongoing fight against serious and organised crime.”