Man behind £135m cocaine empire is son of ex deputy police commissioner
The leader of a drugs gang convicted of importing £135million of cocaine, heroin and ketamine is the son of a former Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, it has emerged.
Jonathan Arnold, 29, headed up a gang of criminals based across the Midlands, whose drug operation stretched from Lichfield to Tamworth and smuggled drugs from Colombia into Britain, through Europe.
Earlier this month, he admitted four charges of conspiracy to import and supply drugs at Birmingham Crown Court, and is currently awaiting sentencing.
However, it has now emerged that his mother served as Staffordshire’s Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.
The Birmingham Mail reported that Sue Arnold had served in the organisation, which is tasked with holding police forces to account, between 2012 and 2021.
Mrs Arnold, who lives near Tamworth, also stood to become an MP in 2015. She was the Conservative candidate in Walsall South but lost out to Labour by 6,000 votes.
There is no suggestion she had any knowledge of her son’s criminality and when approached by The Telegraph she had “no comment”.
The Birmingham Mail reported that an investigation by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit revealed that Arnold pretended to be a legitimate boss of a small removals company, Real Estates Removals, but it was a front for his drug dealing.
This fuelled a luxury lifestyle that saw him buy Ferraris and expensive watches, while regularly flying to Dubai. It was also reported that he used the money earned from his illicit trade to buy a new set of teeth.
However, this came to an end when one of his drug runs with a street value of £2.5million was snatched by French Customs.
The delivery included 63 blocks of cocaine weighing 71kg, as well as 99 bags of ketamine, weighing 101kg.
The stash was discovered in one of his Real Estates Removals vans, with drugs found hidden in furniture and secret compartments throughout the vehicle.
This was followed in April by the biggest seizure when another one of his drug deliveries, worth a street value of £118million, was caught by Dutch police. This stash included 1,477kg of cocaine and was hidden among boxes of bananas that had come from Colombia.
‘Untold misery and significant harm’
Det Ch Supt Jenny Skyrme, who leads the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “As the head of the crime group, Jonathan Arnold enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, driving luxury cars and enjoying trips to Dubai.
“The reality was that he was arranging tens of millions of pounds worth of drugs to be imported into the UK from Europe and South America, which would have gone on to cause untold misery and significant harm to communities.”
Mrs Arnold served as deputy under Matthew Ellis, the elected Police and Crime Commissioner, for almost a decade.
During this period, she was highly thought of by her boss. Mr Ellis described her as bringing “real drive to her role” after her reappointment as deputy in 2016.
He added: “She has led the development of the Police Cadets on my behalf which has enhanced the lives of many young people across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.”
According to her LinkedIn account, she left the role in December and is now working for a wealth management company.
