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Former Liverpool youth star Jamie Cassidy has been jailed for 13 years and three months for his involvement in a multi-million pound drug ring.
The now 46-year-old was a promising young player who played alongside Reds legends Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher, and was destined for a glittering career in the game.
He was a member of Liverpool's 1996 FA Youth Cup-winning, which defeated a famously good West Ham United team featuring Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand.
However, a spate of injuries derailed his footballing dreams and he was released by Liverpool in 1999 at the age of 21.
Cassidy had a spell in the Football League with Cambridge United, before drifting into non-league and then into organised crime.
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According to Manchester Crown Court, Cassidy have been involved in a multi-million pound drug ring that shipped huge amounts of cocaine from South America into Europe, working under nickname "Nuclear-Dog".
Headed by his brother Jonathan Cassidy, 50, and Nasar Ahmed, 51, the gang transported hundreds of kilograms of drugs into Liverpool.
The drugs were hidden in modified vehicles and came via Amsterdam from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia.
When the shipment reached Merseyside, the gang distributed the drugs across England and Scotland through a network of couriers.
Cassidy was arrested in November 2020 at his home in Knowsley, Merseyside.
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Officers found his encrypted telephone, a black machete and the police file on the operation that led to his arrest.
Jonathan and Ahmed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of controlled drugs.
They also admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to transfer criminal property.
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