MEMBERS of a drugs gang formerly led by a man whose murder shocked a Mossley estate have been jailed.
Thomas Campbell was tortured to death at his home on Riverside in July 2022.
Now seven people in the group he was the head of – including two from Droylsden – have been sentenced for their part in a £1.6 million cocaine supply plot.
Following his death, Thomas’ brother Lee ‘took control’ as the head of the Campbell organised crime group, which was the subject of Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Kilowatt.
In 2024, detectives launched a covert investigation with support from surveillance and phone work technology to identify the offenders and gather enough evidence.
After a mobile number was identified as being the drugs line for the Campbell family OCG, the rest unravelled.
During the investigation, several purpose-made ‘hides’ – what criminals sometimes use to conceal their illegal commodities, such as drugs and guns, so that they can evade police if they are raided unexpectedly – were discovered in woodland areas including Clayton Vale and Phillips Park.
In total, some 16.5 kilograms of class A drugs were shifted by the group between March 14, 2024, and January 30, 2025.
Carlo Tommasello, of Droylsden Wharf Road in Droylsden, was caught on camera walking into woods at Philips Park in Clayton on a number of occasions.
A gym mate of Lee Campbell, the 38-year-old was said to have operated the ‘graft phone’ for up to £150-a-day.
According to GMP, drug runner Steven Quinn, of Edge Lane in Droylsden, ‘featured heavily in the day-to-day dealing’ while Tommasello and another gang member, Kelly Blundell, were said to work closely with Campbell as he ran the business.
The Recorder of Manchester, Nicholas Dean KC, said: “Effectively Mr Campbell was running the family business. He wasn’t running a corner shop and nor was he running a hypermarket. It was somewhere between, perhaps a small supermarket.
“The conspiracy was led by Lee Campbell. I accept that Lee Campbell took over the business from his brother Thomas who was murdered in 2022.
“That, it seems to me, amounts to little by way of mitigation although I accept his brother’s death will have had a significant impact on him.”
To Campbell, he added: “You played without doubt a leading role. This was essentially your business.
“You were operating essentially for profit and the conspiracy involved a really large number of individuals and a really large quantity of drugs.”
Campbell, 43 and of Lightfoot Walk in Manchester’s Beswick area, was jailed for nine years and four months.
Quinn, 57, was jailed for three years and four months and Tommasello for four years and four months.
Three other members were jailed while one received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Detective Inspector Claire Moss, from GMP’s City of Manchester North Challenger Team, said: “The City of Manchester North Challenger Team remains relentless in the pursuit and disruption of organised crime groups (OCGs), and these sentences serve as a reminder that justice will be served.
“This OCG made significant profits at the expense of vulnerable drug users and spared no consideration for anyone except themselves and their own gains.
“Our team has put a lot of time and effort into this investigation, but our work does not stop here. We will continue to tackle serious and OCGs and the associated violence and exploitation that comes with them.
“We do act on information provided by the public, and I want to personally encourage anyone with knowledge of criminal activity in their area to come forward.
“Every piece of information, no matter how small it might seem, helps us build a clearer picture of criminal activity and take appropriate action.”