Police Bust M5 Drug Courier With Heroin and Amphetamines Bound for Devon
Late last year, traffic on the M5 in Devon slowed for something much bigger than congestion—an armed police stop marked the latest move in a sprawling drug investigation linking Merseyside’s criminal underworld to sleepy West Country towns. Behind the wheel that day was Lee Paton, a 34-year-old from Liverpool, allegedly working outside the law. In his vehicle? Heroin valued at £68,600 and a heavy consignment—16.5kg—of amphetamine worth somewhere between £80,000 and £160,000 in street value. All of it was heading directly for distribution in Exmouth and Exeter.
This dramatic roadside arrest didn’t happen in isolation. For months, law enforcement had been tracking suspicious movements, quietly watching as drugs funneled south from Merseyside along Britain’s busy highways. Paton was just one cog in a much bigger machine—a courier recruited into a supply chain that was pumping class A drugs into local communities from as far away as Liverpool.
Inside the Network: Exmouth Connections and Covert Operations
The web didn’t stop with Paton. Investigators soon linked his run to two Exmouth men: Adrian Mulcahy, 36, and Dillon Ballard, 28. Their job? Keeping the local lines moving. These weren’t just low-level pushers. Mulcahy and Ballard acted as the hands and feet of the operation, arranging drop-offs and running a system that kept their customers hooked. Police caught up with them in Camborne, Cornwall, after months of covert surveillance. Their every move was logged—every meeting, text, and transaction.
But the key player behind the curtain was John O’Neill, aged 54, also from Exmouth. If Paton delivered the product, O’Neill managed the business. Police say O’Neill managed not one, but three separate drug lines—systems used by dealers nationwide to reach buyers fast. Over six months, these lines pinged out more than 13,600 messages; most were offers of heroin or cocaine, coordinated and methodical. The volume alone was staggering for towns like Exmouth and surrounding Devonshire villages.
The group’s criminal footprint was deep. Over time, total seizures connected to the network reached an estimated £1.4 million in heroin and cocaine, underscoring just how much product was washing into communities on the coast. Police believe the drugs shifted through established distribution networks, touching not just Exmouth and Exeter but even further west into Cornwall.
The court wasn’t lenient. Paton got three years and ten months for his courier duties. O’Neill—described as the orchestrator—was handed five and a half years. In contrast, both Mulcahy and Ballard received suspended sentences, a decision likely reflecting their roles and cooperation after being caught.
Cases like this are a wake-up call for coastal communities rarely associated with this level of organized crime. The cross-country journey from Liverpool’s criminal circles down to Devon’s seaside has become a well-trodden path for traffickers looking to exploit new markets. For now, at least, one part of that network is out of business—but the tactics used and the haul seized show how resilient and far-reaching UK drug operations can be.
