Alleged drug trafficker Francis Coggins arrested in the Netherlands
Alleged drug trafficker Francis Coggins has been arrested in the Netherlands.
The 60-year-old, who was wanted on suspicion of trafficking drugs to the UK was nabbed by Dutch cops outside a residential property in Zandvoort on Tuesday.
It comes after he spent five years on the run.
He was taken into custody amid ongoing cooperation between the National Crime Agency (NCA), the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), and the Dutch National Police.
Dutch National Police (Getty Images)
News in 90 Seconds - 5th June 2025
Coggins, of Huyton, Liverpool, was wanted by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit on charges related to smuggling heroin and cocaine.
He appeared before a court in Amsterdam on Wednesday as extradition proceedings began.
He is alleged to head up the Huyton Firm - a large-scale organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, blackmail, contract killing and violent crime.
Also known as the Cantril Farm Cartel, he runs the gang alongside his brother Vincent Coggins, who was jailed for 28 years last year.
The powerful drug gang rose to prominence in Merseyside following the downfall of other gangs, such as the one headed up by the notorious Curtis 'Cocky' Warren.
The gang originated in a small village and grew to gain a feared reputation, commanding respect from other crooks.
Their downfall came when French authorities hacked EncroChat, an encrypted messaging service used by criminal organisations to conduct their business.
'The agency has been working extensively with the ROCU and our international partners to trace Coggins and return him to the UK,' Gill Duggan, head of Europe at the NCA said.
'It does not matter where fugitives go. The agency's reach and strong relationships with international partners mean we will always tenaciously pursue those wanted by law enforcement.'
Detective Superintendent Zoe Russo from the North West ROCU added: 'This arrest demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that individuals wanted for serious offences, whether in the UK or abroad, are brought to justice.
'We work closely with international law enforcement partners to track down and apprehend fugitives, no matter where they try to hide. The message is clear: if you are wanted, we will find you.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Letters: The camera and the pen bear witness to genocidal regimes
During this summer of 2025, I read a piece shared on Facebook in which the French foreign minister urged Israel to allow foreign press into the Gaza Strip. The words 'Bear witness' stare out at me from my screen. We have all seen images and documentary evidence of Gaza and the horrors that are being inflicted on the Palestinian people. I have had fear and concern about sharing images and reports, not because of the shock and dismay this brings into our comfortable homes (I believe we should be awake and informed), but because I worried that sharing these images and reports might mean that reporters are targeted – which, by all accounts and most recent attacks, suggest they are. If the answer to Medb Ruane's question was 'no', then reporters and photographers from outside would have the freedom to do their job in safety. I believe the answer to her question is most definitely 'yes', because exposure through the power of the lens and pen is something that a genocidal regime would have obvious fears about. Margaret O'Brien, Nenagh, Co Tipperary US needs to take control of its own future and stop playing the short game Looking at what is happening in the US isn't politics as we used to know it. It's more like a card game in which the players are spending money they don't have, knowing they'll be gone before the bill arrives. Leaders grab what they can today and leave the mess for someone else tomorrow. Take the latest in Washington DC. Donald Trump declares crime is out of control, sending federal agents and National Guard troops to 'stop violent crime' and pushing to charge teenagers as young as 14 as adults ('Donald Trump claims crime in Washington DC is out of control. Here's what the data shows', Irish Independent, August 12). Yet official data show juvenile arrests in DC are down nearly 20pc this year, violent crime is falling and homicide rates are at multi-decade lows nationally. ADVERTISEMENT The 'out of control' narrative is largely a political performance that obscures the reality, but that doesn't mean serious problems don't exist. Bit by bit, the US government is being hollowed out, markets are left to run wild and ordinary people are left with fewer tools to deal with big problems like climate change and disappearing jobs. People end up tired, distracted and too busy to look ahead. If nothing changes, America will split in two. One side will be wealthy and mobile, taking advantage of new technology and global markets, while the other will be stuck with climate disasters, fewer jobs and crumbling services. The gap will grow until each side might as well be living in a different country. Ireland has learnt the hard way that if you don't take control of your own future, someone else will – and they won't do it for your benefit. America has to decide soon whether to keep playing the short game or start building something that lasts. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh Fair play, Charlie Weston, for highlighting forever rising cost of electricity Charlie Weston is doing us all some service with his persistence in highlighting the excessive cost of electricity and the dreadful misery being inflicted on many households as a consequence ('Fears of arrears crisis as record number of families are three months or more behind on energy bills', August 12) But it seems that no one in the Government is listening, and certainly no one seems to want to discuss the elephant in the room – the negative impact on charges that the decision to transform this natural monopoly into an artificial, competitive market has had. As pointed out before, when electricity was generated and supplied by a single semi-state entity, the ESB, Ireland enjoyed the lowest electricity charges in Europe. The reason is very simple: in the privatised scenario, householders are not only having to pay the cost of generation and supply as they did under the semi-state ESB, but on top of that they now must fund the profit margin, the multiple CEOs and duplicated management structures and, by far the most outrageous, the cost of all the advertising we see every night on our TVs as the various entities now sitting between the customer and access to electricity compete for our attention at our expense. Surely with such a vital social good, such a waste is indefensible. The failure to properly debate the decision to outsource this vital service at the time meant that citizens were essentially in the dark. Jim O'Sullivan, Rathedmond False promises of more gardaí on beat when there aren't enough in the force My motorbike was stolen last evening outside my work premises in Artane. Many of us have experienced that dreaded feeling of walking out and discovering that your car or motorbike has been taken and, most likely, burnt out or otherwise destroyed. The gardaí were brilliant and did everything in their power to get it back, but, unfortunately, when dealing with stolen bikes their hands are tied. The political lip service is to get more gardaí on the streets while knowing there aren't enough officers to patrol the country as a whole. I can understand why young people don't want to join the force when every action is scrutinised and videoed. On a recent trip to Cardiff on my motorbike, I noted that it is a very safe city to walk around as they have employed city wardens, akin to the security people on the Dart, who wear hi-vis jackets and patrol the city centre in small groups during the day and on Friday and Saturday evenings, helping tourists and dealing with anti-social behaviour. Basically, they are a step down from the gardaí, but bring a feeling of security. Aidan Hampson, Artane, Dublin Why am I always 12th in the telephone queue when calling our state services? It is amusing that when you ring any of our state services, the first thing you hear is that 'we are experiencing an unusually high volume of calls'. I phoned a public body at 1.30pm on Monday and was told I was 12th in the queue, so I rang off. I rang again at 4pm to again be told I was still in 12th place. That 11th caller must be some yapper. Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9
The Irish Sun
13 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Four children aged between 11 & 13 arrested after ‘stealing car & fatally mowing down grandma, 71, in hit & run'
The children were identified by CCTV footage from a nearby shop HIT & RUN HORROR Four children aged between 11 & 13 arrested after 'stealing car & fatally mowing down grandma, 71, in hit & run' FOUR children have been detained after allegedly stealing a car and mowing down an elderly woman before fleeing the scene. Cecilia De Astis, 71, died after being struck by an out-of-control vehicle while walking in the Italian city of Milan on Monday. Advertisement 3 Cecilia De Astis was tragically killed in a hit and run Credit: facebook/@ 3 Four children - aged between 11 and 13 - were reportedly taken into custody in connection with the alleged crime Credit: 3 Damage to the stolen vehicle after the hit and run Credit: The grandma had just left a lunch at the 'House of Solidarity' - run by the Brothers of St. Francis - in her local Gratosoglio neighbourhood when the tragic incident occurred, reports Italian outlet La Stampa. Local police took four children - aged between 11 and 13 - into custody on suspicion of vehicular homicide aggravated by failure to provide assistance. The children were identified by the T-shirts they were wearing, which had been caught on surveillance cameras from a nearby shop. Under Italian law, children under 14 are not criminally liable. Advertisement The minors were tracked down at a Roma settlement on Via Selvanesco, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The stolen Citroën reportedly skidded, crashed into a curb and struck De Astis - throwing her several metres into the air - before slamming into a nearby road sign. The impact was said to have been devastating - despite emergency services' quick arrival, nothing could be done to save the woman. Her sons, Gaetano and Filippo, arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and collected the few belongings left scattered on the road - including the face of their mum's wristwatch. Advertisement Originally from Puglia, De Astis had worked for over 30 years as a textile worker at the Cederna cotton mill before retiring, according to La Stampa. Dozens of messages of condolence have reportedly been posted in a social media group created by former mill employees. Tech CEO killed in horror mid-air skydiving crash after 'pal's knee hit his head' as cousin pays tribute to 'family man' De Astis had dinner with her sons the night before the incident. 'The only blessing is that we managed to have dinner together the night before,' they told the newspaper. Advertisement Her granddaughter said: "She was my second mother, we grew up together. She was a good woman. You can't die like that." The stolen Citroën - which had French number plates - reportedly belonged to a 20-year-old from Strasbourg who was visiting Milan with three friends. He had parked the car about a mile from the scene and gone to visit the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology with his friends, only to return and find it missing. He reported it stolen on Sunday evening. Advertisement It comes as a popular travel influencer couple who documented their van life adventures online have died in an off-road crash. Stacey Tourout and Matthew Yeomans reportedly lost control while driving through rough terrain in the mountains near Trout Lake, British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian couple ran the Toyota World Runners YouTube channel, which had over 200,000 subscribers, and also built a following of 72,000 on Instagram. News of their deaths was shared by friends and family on social media and confirmed by Kaslo Search and Rescue, who responded to the scene.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Mason Greenwood ‘SPAT' at Amadou Onana to spark furious brawl with Tyrone Mings in Aston Villa friendly
MASON GREENWOOD allegedly SPAT at Amadou Onana to spark his furious brawl with Tyrone Mings. Marseille forward Greenwood had his shirt shredded by Aston Villa defender Mings during a bust-up in a pre-season clash in France on Saturday night. 9 Mason Greenwood allegedly spat at Amadou Onana Credit: AFP 9 Mings reacted furiously during the bust-up as Aston Villa took on Marseille Credit: AFP 9 Onana was furious with the former Manchester United striker Credit: 9 Greenwood had his shirt ripped in the scrap Credit: And SunSport understands disgusted Villa players were raging because Greenwood is claimed to have spat at their £50million club-record signing Onana. Belgium star Onana recoiled, suddenly holding his own face as he turned towards French referee Benoit Millot after Greenwood appeared to spit at him. The 87th-minute flashpoint started when Greenwood hacked Onana to the ground, goaded and then shoved the Villa midfielder, who bounced up off the turf to confront him. England international Mings stepped in just as a grinning Greenwood, 23, seemed to commit the vile act. Greenwood's expression quickly changed as 6ft 5in Mings grabbed his collar and swung him around, with Onana also grappling as the former Manchester United player's shirt was ripped in a melee. Greenwood was booked, along with Mings and Onana, then immediately substituted by Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi. It is unlikely that Greenwood will face action unless the incident was included in ref Millot's report to the French FA. Uefa will not get involved because they have no jurisdiction over the 'friendly'. Villa do not plan to push for any further action to be taken. Unai Emery also squared up to De Zerbi during the powderkeg pre-season clash. Villa boss Emery saw red when Marseille old boy Boubacar Kamara was scythed down by Neal Maupay in injury time. Ex-Man Utd star Ashley Young at centre of huge brawl after controversial late penalty during Birmingham vs Ipswich clash De Zerbi, in charge of Brighton from 2022 to 2024, said: 'Unai complained about my players and I didn't like that. It's up to me to talk to them. 'The match was heated but that's what people came to see. They could have gone to the beach but they came to the Stade Velodrome.' Marseille won 3-1 as former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted twice after coming on as a second-half substitute. Greenwood scored the opening goal and laid on another for Aubameyang, with Villa skipper John McGinn having levelled to make it 1-1 at half-time. 9 Greenwood smirked at Onana after his cynical foul Credit: 9 Mings marched over to get involved Credit: 9 The flashpoint happened late in the game Credit: 9 The three men were all booked while Greenwood was immediately subbed off Credit:
