Darren Schofield, aka ‘Thor’, Jailed for £140M Cocaine Smuggling Plot
Darren Schofield, a notorious British drug lord known as “Thor,” has been sentenced for his central role in a £140 million cocaine smuggling scheme from Sierra Leone to the UK. The 45-year-old from Litherland, Sefton, Merseyside, was part of a Merseyside-based crime group responsible for orchestrating the importation of over a tonne of cocaine, which was intercepted by the UK Border Force before it could reach its destination.
Schofield, nicknamed “Thor” by his fellow gang members due to his long, flowing hair, was found to be the mastermind behind the operation. The massive shipment of drugs was hidden inside sacks of flour and transported by boat from West Africa. The drugs, totaling 1.3 tonnes, were seized at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk in June 2022. The cocaine, which had an estimated wholesale value of £36 million but could have fetched up to £140 million on the street, was destined for an industrial unit in Wigan, with a stop in Morocco before arriving in the UK.
The operation, known as “Operation Lemonlike,” was led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). The crime group’s members, including a pensioner sentenced on his 70th birthday, were collectively handed prison sentences totaling over 75 years. Among those sentenced was Stephen Martland, who arranged the rental of the storage unit for the drugs and was involved in sourcing chemicals to cut the cocaine and increase its value. Paul Mockett, another member, set up a company, BH Supplies Ltd, to facilitate the acquisition of these chemicals.
The investigation also revealed that Neil Maguire, using the handle “Holy Book” on the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, was involved in trading cocaine through the network. Maguire traded 8.5kg of cocaine, worth around £300,000, through contacts using aliases like “Mister Gratitude,” “Cherry Vape,” and “Stringfella,” which was reportedly Schofield’s account.
This operation highlights the continued efforts of the UK authorities to tackle large-scale drug smuggling and dismantle criminal networks involved in such illicit activities.
