The Rise and Fall of Liverpool’s Huyton Firm
Ask anyone who has barely spent any time in Liverpool about the city and the first stereotype that they’re likely to turn to is one about crime. The image of Scousers ‘nicking your wallet’ is one that persists, in spite of the fact that the reality died out in the 1990s.
That isn’t to say that there is no crime in Liverpool, of course, with the city just as liable to see you pickpocketed or robbed as any other major city anywhere in the world.
There has also long been an underground of criminal activity, with gangs operating out of Liverpool, none more notorious than the ‘Huyton Firm’.
Formation of the Huyton Firm
Also known as the ‘Cantril Farm Cartel’, the Huyton Firm was a group of organised criminals that was created in Liverpool in the 1990s and operated out of the Huyton area of the city, hence its name.
In the years after its formation, the organised crime group had been involved in everything from blackmail to contract killings via violent crime and large-scale drug trafficking. The ability of the gang to rise to prominence came about thanks to the arrest and deaths of Curtis Warren and Colin Smith, two of the most notorious criminals to operate out of Liverpool in recent decades.
@369.fy.page Armed police have cordoned off an area of #Huyton in #Merseyside, #UK this afternoon following a significant incident. #breakingnews ♬ sunet original – StefanPage
The two men responsible for the formation of the Huyton Firm were Vincent and Francis Coggins, brothers who lived in the area and maintained a tight control over their operations thanks to the use of trusted associates and encrypted communication.
Drugs were trafficked across Europe before distribution into cities such as Manchester, Swansea, Plymouth and Glasgow. Control of the city’s underworld was maintained via the use of firearms and even grenades, whilst corrupt informants in the police allowed them to evade detection and operate without any sort of impunity for decades.
The Downfall of the Coggins Brothers
Although drug trafficking was the major thing that the Huyton Firm carried out, they also got involved with the likes of extortion and violent attacks, such as in 2020, when one of their stash houses was invaded by a rival gang, stealing in the region of 30 kilos of cocaine, worth about £1 million.
As a result, Vincent Coggins ordered violent reprisals to be carried out against those he suspected had carried out the attacks. The messages detailing the revenge were sent via EncroChat, which the gang didn’t realise had been cracked by members of law enforcement.
Just been watching that Panorama on BBC iPlayer about the Huyton firm.
This fella was the stash and had £1million of Cocaine hidden under a manhole cover in the back garden.
It’s available to watch on BBC iPlayer now called “The Crime Bosses Who Terrorised A City”. pic.twitter.com/NPVVtTLm8U
— Around Liverpool (@aroundliv) May 10, 2024
The hack was a turning point in the battle against the Huyton Firm, with multiple members of the gang arrested and tried. In the early part of 2024, Vincent Coggins was sentenced to 28 years in prison, having been convicted of blackmail and drug trafficking. Paul Woodford and Michael Earle, trusted associates, went to prison for 24-and-a-half years and 11 years respectively.
Meanwhile, Vincent’s brother, Francis, went on the run and was actively being sought by the National Crime Agency. He was eventually caught in the most unusual of circumstances whilst living in the Netherlands.
Dutch police were called to a residence in Zandvoort, a Dutch coastal town. The drunk, middle-aged man that had collapsed on the floor was Francis Coggins, who Merseyside police had failed to arrest for half a decade. He was soon sent back to the United Kingdom and was tried at Liverpool Crown Court, being found guilty of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine.
He was given an 18-year jail sentence thanks to his role as the person running the international arm of the Firm’s drug business, being linked to £16 million’s worth of cocaine and heroine imported to the UK.
Other Crime Gangs in the City
Whilst the takedown of the Huyton Firm was obviously good news, it would be naive to think that they haven’t been replaced by someone else since. As with any major city, but especially those with excellent transport links such as the port on the River Mersey, Liverpool has long been a hub for organised crime groups.
Such groups have been in existence since the early 19th century, with modern versions of the OCGs tending to focus their areas of interest around the drugs trade. From the Whitneys to the Fitzgibbons via the Warren Cartel and the Clarkes, the city has had no shortage of crime families.
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Then there’s the likes of the Liverpool Mafia, a long-standing drugs cartel first firmed by Tommy Comerford in the 1970s. Most of the time, such criminal activity will be unknown to the majority of people living in the city. It is only really when people either get involved in crime or make moves to buy or distribute drugs that the criminal elements of Liverpool will more overtly reveal themselves.
Sometimes, though, the crime spills over and hits the headlines, such as in the case of the death of Olivia Pratt-Korbel in the August of 2022 or the shooting of Elle Edwards a few months later.
