Drug dealer who flooded York with cocaine then fled to Thailand behind bars

Luke Atkin was arrested by Thai police and deported after other members of his gang were jailed for a total of 44 years in October, North Yorkshire Police said.

The 37-year-old was handed a 10-year prison sentence for his role in a drugs gang that supplied “huge amounts of cocaine in York and Tadcaster”, a force spokesperson said.

Other members of the gang were jailed by a judge at Bradford Crown Court in October.

But Atkin did not attend court on the day of his trial and flew out of the UK.

He was convicted of conspiracy to supply class-A drugs and circulated as wanted when he failed to appear in court.

He was then sentenced in his absence at Bradford Crown Court in October.

North Yorkshire Police said Atkin was recently arrested in Thailand and the force worked with Thai authorities and international policing agencies “to ensure he didn’t evade justice”.

“He was held in a Thai jail then deported to the UK where he appeared in front of a court last week during a brief hearing at Bradford Crown Court,” a force spokesperson said.

“Four months was added to his original prison term for failing to surrender.”

Atkin, from Warrington in Cheshire, made regular trips to North Yorkshire to meet other members of the organised crime group and deal drugs.

North Yorkshire Police said the gang Atkin worked for was taken apart by the force’s Organised Crime Unit, which seized huge amounts of class-A drugs worth more than £50,000 during a large-scale investigation in 2022 and 2023. 

As The Press reported, five members of the gang were put behind bars as part of the operation in October.

Gavin Paul Tuohey, then 46, of Springhill, Tadcaster, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class-A drugs. He was jailed for nine years and three months.

Drug gang boss Gavin Tuohey (Image: North Yorkshire Police) His right-hand man Rhys Morgan, then 26, of Rockcliffe Court, Tadcaster, who deputised for Tuohey when the gang leader was on holiday. He used a relative’s address to stash drugs, pleaded guilty and was jailed for eight years.

Gang boss’ right hand man Rhys Morgan (Image: North Yorkshire Police) Drug runner Jamal Lazrak, then 29, formerly of Chapelfields and now of no fixed address, used two black Volkswagen Golfs as he shuttled between Tadcaster and York. Tuohey confiscated one of the Golfs temporarily as debt repayment. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for eight years and three months.

Drug runner Jamal Lazrak (Image: North Yorkshire Police) Drug dealer Max Haigh, then 23, of Wheatdale Road, Ulleskelf, pleaded guilty and was jailed for six years and four months.

Drug dealer Max Haigh (Image: North Yorkshire Police) Driver Olivia Heppell, then 27, of Spindle Close, Foxwood, carried cocaine between Tadcaster and York for one of the gang. She pleaded guilty and was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years.

Olivia Heppell (Image: North Yorkshire Police) Luke Jenkins, then 33, of Leeds, pleaded guilty and was jailed for 10 years at an earlier hearing.

Detective Constable Leah Kitchen, of North Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Unit, said after the hearing in October: “This was a large and detailed investigation that led to an organised crime gang being dismantled, and in doing so we’ve stopped tens of thousands of pounds of high-purity class-A drugs hitting the streets.

“The key players have received significant prison sentences that reflect the seriousness of their crimes but also take them out of circulation for a number of years, which can only be a good thing for communities in Tadcaster and York.”