Seven individuals involved in a drug syndicate formerly headed by Thomas Campbell, who was killed in 2022, have been sentenced for their roles in a £1.6 million scheme to distribute class A drugs in the northern regions of Manchester and Tameside.
The group’s activities were taken over by Lee Campbell following his brother’s death in Mossley, Tameside. Investigations into a “graft line,” a dedicated phone number for drug transactions, led authorities to other members of the gang who trafficked 16.5 kilograms of class A substances between March 14, 2024, and January 30, 2025.
Lee Campbell, with a history of 11 prior convictions for 18 offenses, including robbery and drug-related crimes, was described by the judge as a key figure in the operation, driven by profit and involving numerous individuals and a significant volume of drugs.
All seven defendants admitted to conspiring to distribute class A drugs. Lee Campbell, residing in Beswick, Manchester, received a sentence of nine years and four months. Other sentences included two years and eight months for Kelly Bundell, Mark McGrath, and Paul Taylor; three years and four months for Stephen Quinn; a two-year suspended sentence for Mark Salinger; and four years and four months for Carlo Tommasello.