Two Local Semi-pro Footballers Jailed for Dealing Cocaine
Part of gang who operated distribution centre from Acton storage unit
A member of the gang wheeling drugs into a storage unit. Picture: Met Police
May 28, 2024
Two local semi-professional footballers have been jailed after it was found they were part of a gang that conspired to supply cocaine with an estimated street value of £208 – £260m.
34-year-old Andrew Harewood of Woodhurst Road in Acton, who played for Harrow borough FC was jailed for 16 years and one month and 29-year-old Melchi Emanuel-Williamson of Wesley Avenue, Park Royal who played for Margate FC was jailed for 14 years.
They were part of a group of six men, who all played lower league football, who were convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, 17 May having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to conspiracy to supply controlled class A drugs (cocaine) and conspiracy to supply controlled class B drugs (ketamine).
They were all caught after police stopped 26-year-old Luke Skeete, in a white panel van on Richmond Road, Kingston in October 2022. Had been driving while disqualified and a search of the vehicle discovered 5kg of Class A drugs packed in the rear with 3kg in the footwell. A video recovered from a car involved in a deal showed Skeete parking up in his white van and passing over a holdall of drugs.
Officers then searched a storage unit leased by Skeete in Acton and found an organised distribution centre containing 123 kilograms of high purity cocaine. Further enquiries by the investigation team then identified another self-storage location in Chiswick which Skeete had been driving towards on the day of his arrest. In the storage locker officers found 244 kilograms of ketamine and 11 kilograms of a hybrid drug mixture of cocaine and ketamine.
Skeete’s phone was seized and sent for analysis which resulted in the discovery of a secure messaging platform. The police say that the group chats demonstrated a sophisticated, professional business model the group were operating to supply cocaine through the UK.
Further examination found the true identities of the other users who had been using handles to conceal who they were.
Andrew Harewood and Melchi Emanuel-Williamson. Picture: Met Police
Detectives spent an extended period examining CCTV which showed the gang coming and going from the storage unit with drugs concealed in holdalls and boxes.
It was found that between 10 April 2022 and 20 October 2022, they had all conspired to supply in excess of 2.7 tonnes of high-grade cocaine with an estimated street value of £208,160,000 to £260,200,000.
On 28 September 2023, Specialist Crime officers carried out arrest warrants at addresses linked to the group in London and Birmingham.
Skeete had previously been jailed for 15 years at the same court in July 2023 having pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (cocaine), possession with intent to supply class B drugs (ketamine), supplying cocaine, and driving while disqualified.
As well as Skeete, Harewood and Emanuel-Williamson, the other men convicted were 35-year-old Adam Pepara of Wharf Lane, Solihull, 29-year-old Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick of Delgarno Gardens, North Kensington and 28-year-old Jamarl Joseph of Lily Gardens, Wembley.
Part of the cocaine stash found by police in a storage unit
Police Constable Perry, from Specialist Crime North, said, “The operation we’ve dismantled here is not some minor undertaking, involving a group of chancers – this is a highly organised criminal group who were supplying drugs on an industrial scale throughout the UK.
“The sentences received reflect the gravity of what they had been doing. This is a criminal group who had otherwise promising careers – semi-pro footballers with other jobs and courses they were undertaking – but they were motivated by making money from drugs that fuel misery and violence on our streets.
“Anyone else wondering if they can make cash from this type of activity should take a look at these sentences and think again, because it’s only a matter of time before you are caught.”
Detective Constable Janes, from Specialist Crime North, said, “With Skeete’s arrest we brought this house of cards down.
“After he was detained we secured valuable evidence on his mobile phone, helping us launch another investigation that led to us identifying his conspirators.
"Forensic examination of that device and invaluable CCTV evidence helped us compile a case so compelling that none of them had any choice but to plead guilty.”
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