A LIVERPOOL drugs baron who lived in St Helens has been jailed for 14 years after his family’s smuggling operation was uncovered by police.

Brothers Jason and Ian Fitzgibbon, and their mother, Christine were caught after authorities seized 57kg of heroin in Turkey and followed the trail back to their home city.

A total of 165,000 ecstasy tablets were also seized in Liverpool.

Police say the Fitzgibbons, described as a notorious crime family, "convicted themselves by their own words, in their own house" after detectives hid a listening device in the family's detached home in an affluent Merseyside suburb.

When the address in Edale Road, Allerton, was raided, officers found more than £180,000 in cash, most of it stuffed under the floorboards.

Christine Fitzgibbon, 60, was described by prosecutors as the "banker" of the operation who stored the money from their illicit dealings.

Jason led the business and was responsible for importing the drugs, while Ian, of Heigham Gardens, Sutton Heath took charge of supplying to the streets of Britain.

According to the Serious Organised Crime Squad, the brothers, who began their life of crime in their teenage years, also had an established network of criminal contacts across Europe and South America.

Prosecutors at Manchester Crown Court said drug dealing and money laundering under their control took place on an "enormous scale" between 2008 and 2011, generating vast profit.

Jason Fitzgibbon 40, of Crofton Mansions, Crofton Estate, North Sudley Road, Liverpool, was jailed for 16 years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin and money laundering.

Christine Fitzgibbon pleaded guilty to money laundering and was jailed for two years.

Matt Burton, head of Investigations for SOCA, said: "Members of this crime group have terrorised local communities for many years through drug trafficking and associated violence.

“Christine schooled Jason and Ian from an early age on how to disregard the laws of the land. They thought they were untouchable but they were wrong.

"The sentences handed out should act as a warning to others who think they can get away with attempting to flood the streets of the UK with dangerous drugs.

“As the Fitzgibbon family discovered, SOCA and its partners have the capability to completely dismantle crime groups and put those involved behind bars."
Ian Fitzgibbon, 39, was jailed for 14 years and six months after he admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and ecstasy and money laundering.

Elizabeth Jenkins, head of CPS Organised Crime Division (North), said: "The family home of the Fitzgibbons might have looked ordinary to any passers-by, but in fact it was at the heart of a drugs ring that supplied criminals across the North West and had international connections.

“Despite the extraordinary scale and reach of their operation, the prosecution team was able to gather and present damning evidence that left them with no real choice but to plead guilty."