Mail Online

TV security boss was part of £17million drugs ring

By Chris Brooke

A PRIVATE security boss praised for cracking down on theft and thuggery was, in fact, part of a £17million drugs ring.

John ‘Winky’ Watson, 41, faces jail after a jury found him guilty of being part of a gang that smuggled £17.25million of cocaine into the UK and moved large quantities from Merseyside to teesside.

the former soldier was one of three convicted at teesside Crown Court on Wednesday of conspiring to supply Class A drugs between September 2015 and October 2016.

He appeared on national television in 2018 when he set up John

Watson Security. thousands signed up in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and redcar and it was reported he cut crime.

the court heard Watson and codefendants Steven Beazley, 39, and Craig Costello, 38, all from Middlesbrough, discussed cash payments of tens of thousands of pounds. David Wright, 43, admitted supplying the drugs.

Watson denied everything and insisted the calls were just ‘mates calling their mates’. the group will be sentenced at a later date.

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