12-05-2025
He pretended to be a quiet antiques dealer but was really up to no good on a huge scale
He pretended to be a quiet antiques dealer but was really up to no good on a huge scale
Johnny Kock used a pond liner company as a front for a vast criminal enterprise
125 kilos of cocaine was seized on its way to Liverpooll after being imported by antiques dealer Johnny Kock
A man who masqueraded as a "respectable businessman" exploited a small business as a façade to unleash an avalanche of cocaine upon Merseyside, with the overall haul approaching nearly a billion pounds.
Johnny Kock operated under the guise of this seemingly legitimate business to import colossal quantities of potent cocaine concealed in boxes of washing powder – inadvertently involving innocent companies in his scheme. The Dutch national, who resided in Wavertree, Liverpool, stands accused of orchestrating the traffic of up to six tonnes of the controlled substance across 57 different consignments for local criminal networks.
Kock, who spent several years living in Liverpool and feigned a career as an antiques trader, fell into the hands of authorities during an operation initiated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) towards the end of 2013. When the trial was underway, the prosecuting lawyer remarked: "It's at the very highest level of drug importation into this country."
Meanwhile, a judge at the crown court echoed this severity, saying: "In terms of the amounts of cocaine this must be one of the biggest ever offences considered by the courts."
For orchestrating this colossal drugs conspiracy, Kock received a 25-year prison sentence. He later died at HMP Berwyn in Wales during August 2021, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Johnny Kock
(Image: NCA )
Article continues below
Kock resided in an unassuming semi-detached abode on Willow Road, Wavertree, sharing his life with his younger partner Deborah Fagan. To those acquainted with him, he projected a demeanor described as "quiet, intelligent and unsuspecting".
An individual familiar with Kock conveyed: "[He] presented himself as a respectable businessman, getting on in age, and there was nothing to raise suspicion.
"Everything about him seemed legitimate, even down to the way he dressed. It was perfect for the crime gangs because no-one in authority would cast doubt on him."
Posthumously, while speaking with the ECHO, Rob Kock, his brother, acknowledged that although it was common knowledge he was involved in criminal activities, he insisted he was not a "bad guy".
Rob shared some insight stating: "He ran a transport business, but transporting illegal stuff. He fetched the stuff and delivered it. He was long in this business and made a lot of money with it all those years."
Nevertheless, Kock managed to evade scrutiny for a considerable duration until a seizure by Border Force agents brought him into the spotlight.
This incident reached a head in October 2023 when the discovery of 23 kilos of cocaine and 110,000 Euros, en route to a warehouse at Knowsley Industrial Park in Kirkby, set off alarms. The illicit materials were found concealed in a shipment of soap powder at the Channel Tunnel entrance in Coquelles, France.
Geaplan Folien, a German company that unknowingly arranged deliveries of pond liner and later washing powder to Koch, was informed about the discovery and alerted police to an impending shipment. German customs in Bremen discovered 107kg of high-purity cocaine within the consignment.
The shipment was permitted to continue its journey to Kirkby, but the drugs were replaced with decoy packages. As police searched his latest delivery, Kock anxiously enquired about the delay but, failing to notice anything unusual, he and his partner Fagan were present to collect it.
Unaware that the drugs had been substituted, he loaded his boxes of washing powder into his van and was subsequently arrested as he drove away on Edge Lane onto the M62. Police also discovered £4,570 in his van and £7,170 at the home he shared with Fagan - believed to be proceeds from his drug importing operation.
Investigators believe that the arrest of Kock, who is suspected to have operated covertly in Liverpool from 2010 until his apprehension in October last year, has shut down one of the UK's largest drug trafficking routes. Investigations revealed that Kock had frequently visited Geaplan's headquarters in Edewecht – 40 miles from the Dutch border – in person to pay for the pond-liner in cash since at least April 2010.
Orders were sent to multiple locations, but they consistently ended up with Kock's Aquaries Ltd, situated in the Binns Road industrial estate in Old Swan, as the final recipient. In Kock's 2014 court appearance, the prosecution stated that the two impounded shipments represented just two out of a known total of 57 deliveries made to his business.
Kock's Dutch connections were believed to have enabled the drugs pipeline between mainland Europe and Merseyside. The police estimated that at the very least, £3.5 million worth of ultra-pure cocaine was imported on a fortnightly basis due to his operations.
However, the court discovered he could have potentially smuggled up to 6,000 kilograms, worth nearly a billion pounds if sold on the streets.
At that time, the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported that the UK received between 25 and 30 tonnes of cocaine annually. An authority added that upon finding a discreet, yet consistent cocaine supply channel in the northwest, Liverpool gangs "must have thought they had struck gold".
Initially, Kock admitted to collaborating to circumvent the import prohibition on Class A substances and three instances of holding illicit goods. However, he tried to change his plea on the narcotics charge to not guilty, insisting he had assumed it was cannabis and never checked the contents.
This attempt failed following a two-day trial. Judge Mark Brown condemned the drug trafficker, emphasising the audacious nature of the operation, stating: "It was in my opinion a relatively simple but audacious way of getting class A drugs into the UK. Whilst it isn't possible for the prosecution to determine precisely the weight of cocaine you imported it was obviously a vast amount, at least between 1,300kg and 6,000kg, worth many, many millions of pounds."
The judge further remarked on the quality of the narcotics concerned: "Also this was high purity cocaine that no doubt would have been cut up for street dealing. This case highlights the ease with which vast amounts of cocaine can be imported into this country. You must have known you were playing for high stakes both in financial reward and the consequences if discovered."
In addition, Kock's accomplice received a prison term, serving 12 months following a guilty plea regarding his involvement with the drugs-related finances.
Cocaine imported by Johnny Kock was seized on the continent in a consignment of soap powder
Subsequently, Kock faced a Proceeds of Crime Act proceeding where authorities aimed to recoup the remains of the operation's enormous profits. Revealing Kock's historical run-ins with the law, the hearing detailed escapes from capture in 1992 and 1994 involving distinct schemes.
The judge was informed that Kock had avoided legal repercussions despite one incident where customs officers discovered 108kg of cannabis within a lorry he manned.
Recounting his criminal history, the court learned: "There was a successful prosecution in relation to his ex-wife's brother, but (Kock) never faced criminal proceedings. He was never heard of until he was stopped with a fake passport in 1994, but he absconded from a customs controlled area before he could be arrested."
In 2021, the ECHO reported that Kock, who was serving his 25-year sentence at HMP Berwyn, was discovered deceased in his cell on August 16. An inquest revealed that Kock, who had declined a Covid vaccination and treatment for his long-standing heart issues while incarcerated, had tested positive for Covid-19.
However, according to Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers, this was not a contributing factor in his death.
The inquest concluded that the cause of death was heart failure, as determined by a Home Office post-mortem, and the coroner ruled it a death due to natural causes.
Following the inquest, the ECHO spoke with Kock's brother, Rob, who described his sibling as having a "difficult life" yet remaining a "big guy full of humour" even while serving his prison sentence. Rob Kock shared: "The last years before he got arrested we had no contact at all. I had my own life with relatively young kids and he had his own business as we found out when he got arrested in 2013 and convicted in 2014.
"His sons came to Amsterdam to tell me about what happened. Because he was my brother, I wanted to know if he was interested in contact. I managed to find the address of the prison where they locked him up and sent him, together with my other brother, a letter to see if he was interested in contact. Which resulted in over two hundred letters sent by him to me and my brother over the years.
"In those letters it was clear despite the incredibly long sentence he got, he always stayed positive and full of humour. His letters were really fun to read and even made me feel proud of my brother.
"He accepted his fate, his sentence, did not complain, and through the lines I could read he was like a big father to all the prisoners and wardens in HMP Whitemoor. Everybody liked him, which I experienced myself twice, when I visited him in 2018 and 2019."
He remarked: "He was definitely not the big drug baron as mentioned in all those newspaper stories. In the years that I've met him I always had the feeling 'he had the heart in the right place' as we say in Holland.
"He disliked class A drugs, he always mentioned to us, so I was very surprised he was caught with class A drugs. I asked him when I visited how this could happen, but he never gave a clear answer. Now I will never know why, but this must have had some reason."
Despite the reasons for Kock's involvement in the drug trade, it proved to be extremely profitable. His part in introducing what might have been close to £1bn worth of cocaine into the north west stands as one of the gravest narcotics conspiracies the UK has witnessed.
Article continues below
