Gregory Bell owned 34 properties across ManchesterButley Hall, Scott Road, Prestbury, where Gregory Bell lived in a ‘prestigious rented apartment’ (stock image)(Image: Manchester Evening News)

A drugs boss built a huge property empire, owned villas in Spain and funded his child’s private education through his involvement in the criminal underworld.

Gregory Bell made ‘vast’ profits from his dealing in cocaine, heroin and other drugs. His gang supplied organised criminals across the country with drugs to sell.

Bell, who others called ‘boss’ or ‘gaffer’, owned 34 properties across Manchester and two villas in Spain. He lived in a ‘prestigious rented apartment’ at Butley Hall, Scott Road, Prestbury, and sent his daughter to a private school.

Manchester Crown Court heard that he paid her fees by handing over an envelope full of cash with the school’s receptionist. Prosecutors told how gambling addict Bell had staked a total of almost £2.2 million in bets with Ladbrokes and Betfred.

Join our Court and Crime WhatsApp group HERE

Designer clothes said to be worth £70,000 were seized from his apartment when he was arrested. Bell, 43, and two of his criminal associates, Ian Ogden, 36, and Paul Brown, 52, will face justice on Monday when they are sentenced.

Six other members of the gang have already been jailed as part of Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Estavan. Prosecuting, David Temkin KC said: “These defendants were involved in a highly sophisticated organised criminal group.”

He said that Bell was at the top of the gang’s hierarchy, and that he was assisted by Ogden. Brown was said to be a ‘major customer’ of the gang.

Bell’s outfit were at the ‘upper end’ of the drugs chain, and supplied ‘other organised crime groups across the length and breadth of the country’. They used safehouses on Moss Lane in Alderley Edge and Coniston Avenue in Bury to store the drugs, before they were collected by couriers who would transport them across the country.

Bell, Ogden and Brown all used the EncroChat communications network to carry out their criminal business, and were exposed when European law enforcement successfully infiltrated the system. The messaging revealed that Bell, known as ‘Castlesnail’, ‘Radiorhino’ and ‘Wonkyfrog’ on EncroChat, was in ‘complete charge’ of the drugs operation.

Ogden, who was known as ‘Tubbytern’ and ‘Integralrhino’, was said to be a close associate of Bell who stepped in as ‘caretaker’ when his co-accused was arrested. Brown, known as ‘Unholypanther’, was said to be a long standing customer of Bell’s gang. He was extradited from Spain back to the UK to face justice.

Prosecutors said Bell’s gang bought and sold 315 kg of class A drugs, and 127 kg of class B drugs. According to ledgers held by the gang, they collected more than £2.2m in cash. The trio also face investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act, where prosecutors seek to claw back ill-gotten gains.

Defending Bell, Colin Aylott KC said that the defendant had received ‘quite extraordinary’ testimonials from organisations, including the Samaritans, attesting to the good work he has carried out while on remand in prison. He said that Bell had no previous convictions on his record.

Simon Czoka KC, defending Ogden, said the defendant was a ‘late entrant’ into a ‘pre-existing conspiracy’. He said that Ogden ‘didn’t see himself as the leader’ when Bell had been arrested.

He argued there was a ‘substantial margin’ between Ogden and Bell. Gary Bell KC, defending Brown, described the defendant as a ‘broker’ who would make a profit of up to £1,000 on the sale of a kilo of cocaine.

He said that Brown, who previously worked for an insurance company, became involved after living beyond his means in a bid to support his family following the death of a relative. Mr Bell said that Brown is regarded as a ‘trusted and model prisoner’.

The trio are expected to be sentenced by Judge Alan Conrad KC on Monday morning. Bell, of Thornley Rise, Audenshaw, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis, and money laundering. Ogden, of Kevin Avenue, Royton, pleaded guilty to the same charges. Brown, of Leicester Road, Failsworth, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis.