A drug trafficker who was caught transporting cocaine through a UK airport has been jailed. Dale Hosker, 50, was sentenced to 15 years and four months at Bolton Crown Court on Wednesday, June 17, as part of an investigation into two crime groups that collected the drug from couriers at Manchester Airport.
Background of the Offender
Hosker, a dog breeder based in Salford, was the last offender from the groups to be sentenced. Last month, his partner Dale Creen, 35, was jailed for 11 years along with two men from a different organised crime group – Albanians Elton Hallaci and Artur Iseberi, who were respectively sentenced to 21 years and seven months and 18 years.
The Smuggling Operation
In 2025, seven US citizens who acted as couriers were jailed for collecting the cocaine at Manchester Airport and transferring it to Hallaci, 32, and Iseberi, 27, of Liverpool, and Hosker and Creen, of Salford. The Americans took a flight to Manchester from the US on May 11, 2024, without any luggage and waited until bags containing cocaine arrived from Cancun, Mexico.
They followed text message instructions from a US offender named 'Nate' after eight suitcases arrived at the airport. The instructions told them to collect specific suitcases containing hundreds of kilograms of the Class A drug before transferring it to the four men who were waiting at nearby locations.
The couriers collected the suitcases from the carousels, wheeled them outside, and caught taxis to a nearby hotel where they passed two to Hosker and five to Hallaci and Iseberi. However, one of the couriers left a case behind, which Border Force officers opened and discovered 20 one-kilogram blocks of cocaine. On that day, Hosker collected 40kg of cocaine and the Albanians collected 100kg.
Second Importation and Arrests
On May 31, 266kg of high purity cocaine with a street value of around £24m was smuggled into Manchester Airport in 12 suitcases. Seven couriers were sent to collect them. But 246kg of this was seized, with only one female courier delivering the drug successfully to hand over 20kg to Creen at an address in Bury. In the other suitcases, 22 to 24 blocks of cocaine were found alongside a tracking device.
Hallaci, Iseberi, Hosker, and Creen were arrested on June 17, 2025, by NCA officers. Evidence against them was damning after they were captured on CCTV at the airport on the days of the importations. One courier also took a photo of Hosker loading cocaine-filled suitcases into his car on May 11.
Evidence and Seizures
When searching Hallaci's home, officers found keys to a Jaguar car parked outside, with a professionally fitted hidden compartment between the rear seats and the boot used for smuggling drugs. Notepads were also discovered that detailed the cocaine importations, referencing Hallaci and Iseberi's involvement. The notebooks indicated where in the UK the drugs would be sent, with 30kg going to Bradford, 35kg to London, and 8kg to Birmingham.
As part of the investigation, NCA investigators also seized two other Jaguar cars belonging to the Albanian OCG which were fitted with after-market hides. In Creen's bedroom, officers found an axe, knife, and a machete.
Sentencing
Hallaci, Iseberi, and Hosker pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to supply. Creen was convicted by a jury of possession of cocaine with intent to supply but acquitted of smuggling cocaine.
Jon Hughes, NCA Branch Commander, said: “The Class A drugs trade is inextricably bound up with extreme violence which can have devastating consequences; we have seen entirely innocent victims caught in the cross-fire of feuding drugs gangs. But offenders like Hosker are driven by greed and don’t care about the trail of misery and harm from source countries in South America to the streets of our towns and cities. The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to protect the public from the threat of Class A drugs.”
