Seven people have been sentenced at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges linked to an organised crime group that supplied cocaine and ketamine in Cheshire and North Wales. The gang operated a drug line using flare messages and Snapchat, advertising working hours between 11am and 11pm.
Operation Cliffhanger launched after discovery in Chester
Cheshire Police launched Operation Cliffhanger in April last year after a bag was found hidden in a bush in Seller Street, Chester. The bag contained white powder, phones and drug paraphernalia. The phones showed evidence of drug supply, and the drugs recovered included up to £11,860 worth of cocaine and £1,760 worth of ketamine.
A "dealer list" found in the bag had a blood stain, which analysis linked to Lewis Stenhouse. The names of Emily Hetherington, Alice Woodhouse, Kim Johnson and Georgia Palin were found in a notebook, linking them to the offences. The notebook revealed a sophisticated and busy operation with numerous daily sales of cocaine and ketamine by multiple street-level runners who were paid wages and petrol money.
The location of the bushes where the bag was found was within metres of where Ciaran Lavelle lived, and one of the windows of his home looked out directly onto where the drugs were discovered.
Arrests and sentencing
Officers conducted search warrants at Lavelle's address in June last year, and he was bailed following his arrest. In October, further warrants led to the arrests of Jason Bascombe, Hetherington, Woodhouse and Johnson. Palin was arrested in Chester on the same day, while Stenhouse was detained at Manchester Airport after returning from holiday. Lavelle was re-arrested two weeks later at Manchester Airport after he left the country following his first arrest.
At Chester Crown Court on Monday 28 September 2026, the following sentences were handed down after guilty pleas to conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine: Lewis Stenhouse, 27, of Chaucer Road, Fleetwood, Lancashire, was sentenced to five years and six months; Jason Bascombe, 34, of Liverpool Road, Huyton, was sentenced to five years and four months; Ciaran Lavelle, 24, of Seller Street, Chester, was sentenced to three years; and Georgia Palin, 28, of Glynne Street, Queensferry, was sentenced to two years suspended for two years.
Emily Hetherington, 33, of Bron-y-Wern, Bagillt, Flintshire, was sentenced to 14 months suspended for two years after pleading guilty to participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Alice Woodhouse, 35, of Glan-yr-afon, Garden City, Flintshire, was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years. Kim Johnson, 47, of Padeswood Road North, Buckley, Flintshire, who also admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine, was sentenced to two years suspended for two years.
Police statement on the investigation
Detective Sergeant Roy Wellings said: "Operation Cliffhanger is the culmination of a lengthy investigation by our dedicated officers into the supply of drugs in Chester and North Wales. Our enquiries clearly linked each defendant to the OCG, either through forensic evidence, phone enquiries, or even through their names being mentioned in drugs-related material which was recovered."
He added: "Thanks to the evidence against them, the defendants were left with no choice but to plead guilty to the offences. This investigation has also meant thousands of pounds worth of drugs that would have been destined for the streets has been seized. Although this operation has seen a number of individuals sentenced for their crimes, our fight against illegal drugs is never over and we would urge anyone with information about drug-related activity to contact us."
