A 57-year-old antiques dealer who fronted a sophisticated cocaine operation serving over 10,000 clients in the City of London has been jailed for nine years. Nathan Samuels, who lived in a council house near Waterloo Station, headed the gang known as Top Gear or City Gear, which supplied high-purity cocaine to wealthy professionals in the Square Mile.
Detectives from the City of London Police’s Serious Organised Crime Team said the cocaine purity was up to 60% higher than street average, allowing the gang to charge premium prices. Ledgers showed sales of £14,480 in a single week, suggesting annual profits of up to £728,000. The operation ran from March 2022 to October 2023.
The gang included Samuels’ son Matthew, 33, and Josh Atherton, 24, from Islington. Couriers Aaron Bretao, 43, Martin Gupta, 38, and Michael Redgrave, 56—a licensed taxi driver who used his black cab for deliveries—transported the drugs. The bust began when police caught courier Gary Miller, 36, making a delivery; phone records then revealed the network.
In an unusual approach, officers arrested couriers shortly after drop-offs in summer 2023, recovering cocaine from customers rather than making large seizures. Further phone analysis led to the senior members, with Samuels and his son arrested two months later. All six were convicted of supplying cocaine and sentenced at Inner London Crown Court.
Detective Constable Matt Cooper said: ‘This was a serious and sophisticated drug supply operation… one of the longest-running and biggest cocaine lines in the City of London.’ He added that the sentences demonstrate the force’s commitment to tackling organised crime.
Samuels received nine years; his son got three-and-a-half years. Redgrave was jailed for two years and nine months, Bretao for three years, Gupta for four years and three months, and Atherton for two years. Atherton also pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon for discharging a noxious liquid.
