Scott Hughes went on the run when police targeted a class A drugs gang. He spent five years on the run before his arrest at Brussels airport
20:14, 14 Mar 2026Updated 20:14, 14 Mar 2026
Scott Hughes(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer who once lived the high life off the profits of a class A drugs gang was reduced to washing caravans on a Benidorm holiday site during his time on the run. Scott Hughes vanished in May 2011 after police raids uncovered over £200,000 and a money counter at his luxury home.
Hughes and other members of the gang he played a significant part of were targeted as part of a police probe, codenamed Operation Webber. The gang was involved in the supply of cocaine, heroin and cannabis and made huge profits which led members to own property in some of Merseyside’s most desirable postcodes.
He led the police on an international manhunt for five years before he was arrested at Brussels airport in Belgium after previously hiding out in sunny Dubai. When Hughes was hauled before a Merseyside court his lawyer said he had been working a menial job under a false name in Benidorm.
As part of a weekly series looking back at Merseyside’s criminal history, the ECHO has taken a closer look at the drug gang and how Hughes successfully evaded capture for half a decade.
The gang spent its fortune on expensive cars, watches, hot tubs and houses. The ringleaders used dozens of mobile phones between them in order to avoid detection. Surveillance began when lieutenant Peter McGhee was observed making trips to Malaga and Amsterdam and later Geneva in the company of various associates.
Prosecutors said those trips were to arrange drug deals with foreign counterparts for heroin and cocaine that would eventually find its way to Merseyside. The conspiracy also had links with Newcastle, Carlisle and Scotland. Over an 18-month period police observed nearly two dozen people either handing on drugs and cash, laundering the profits or “bashing” high purity drugs down to street level deals.
Peter McGhee
Hughes was below McGhee in the hierarchy but played a significant role in the organisation of the drug shipments. He was observed meeting a Scottish drug courier at Speke retail park before leaving in his Audi. The man was later caught with four 1kg blocks of cocaine.
He was also involved in a deal when 2.2kg of cocaine was recovered from a courier following a meeting at the Suites hotel in Kirkby. When another courier was stopped and £53,000 was found in the car, Hughes’ fingerprints were discovered. Unemployed Hughes’ rented £1,100 per month converted barn was raided but he managed to skip the country.
Operation Webber raids recovered in total 27kg of heroin, 14.6kg of cocaine, 2kg of cannabis, £970,000 in cash, watches valued at nearly £200,000 and a silenced and loaded automatic pistol.
Surveillance showed McGhee was able to afford an imposing six bedroom mansion and while under observation drove over 20 luxury cars. Another senior figure in the conspiracy, Steve Nicholls, paid his £1,100 mortgage in cash while in prison. Officers found £300,000 in cash in his house during a raid and found he directed parts of the drug conspiracy from a five star hotel in Aruba.
Hughes vanished and nothing was heard about where he went until he was eventually caught in Belgium. He was stopped in a joint operation between the National Crime Agency, Belgian Federal Police and Merseyside Police as he travelled from Dubai to Belgium using a fake passport.
Scott Hughes pictured as part of a wanted appeal after he fled the UK
When he was eventually returned back to the UK, his lawyer confirmed he had been living “off grid”. The lawyer said: “If people think drug dealing inevitably involves a glamorous lifestyle, he has been jet washing caravans, awnings and patios, as basically the odd job man at the Villamar camping and caravan site in Benidorm.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard Hughes had spent his time in Spain “looking over his shoulder” and “constantly nervous”, knowing that “the day would come when he would have to face the music”. Hughes was said to have met his girlfriend at the campsite, with whom he travelled to Dubai, and had two children.
Hughes, a former chairman of Croxteth Football Club, admitted conspiring to supply class A drugs and money laundering. He was jailed for eight years and six months. He had previously been jailed for possessing a firearm in Holland and drug dealing in Scotland.
Judge David Aubrey KC said: “You were heavily involved in this conspiracy, playing at the very least a managing role, if not the chief executive, certainly a trusted lieutenant. This conspiracy does have the trappings and hallmarks of professionalism and the trappings of wealth.
Liverpool drug dealer Steven Nicholls
“Drugs cause misery, they cause despair and you were plying such a trade for one reason and one reason alone and that is greed and avarice – pennies, shillings and pounds. You were leading a life of luxury and you certainly had sufficient means and nous, if I may use that expression, to ensure that you left this country before you were arrested and brought to justice. The authorities have now finally caught up with you.”
Fifteen other defendants were previously jailed after admitting charges of varying severity. A judge said: “The drugs trade is a dirty business and it’s an evil business. It causes incalculable misery not only to those that are addicted but to their families and children.
“This was a widespread conspiracy. It spread its wings to Scotland and the north east as well as trips abroad to further the conspiracy. This is a conspiracy involving class A drugs and considerable sums of money.”
McGhee was jailed for nine years, while Nicholls was sentenced to seven and a half years. The latter was later sentenced to 16 years and eight months for an EncroChat plot. Other people, including Hughes’ former partner, were also sentenced following the police investigation.