A notorious and violent drugs gang enforcer who was living in a posh gated community has been jailed. 

Peter Cordwell, 49, was sentenced to 11 years and six months' imprisonment after admitting being concerned in the supply of cocaine and amphetamine. 

Cordwell stands at 6ft 4in tall and is well known in the criminal world as an enforcer and debt collector for an organised crime group in Essex. 

He lived in a private gated community on Hazel Lane in Ilford and had a huge array of specialist security features fitted at his home. 

But National Crime Agency (NCA) officers found messages sent by Cordwell under the nickname ‘Mightyjedi’ on encrypted message platform EncroChat. 

Messages showed that between November 2019 and August 2020 he was involved in the supply of at least 90 kilos of amphetamine and 32 kilos of cocaine, worth around £2.5 million. 

In one of his EncroChat exchanges he told his contact he had to collect £112,000 from a customer for the “last 4 tops” meaning four kilos of cocaine. 

In another, he spoke of supplying cocaine at more than 80% purity. 

Cordwell pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and amphetamine. 

He had previously been convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 1998 and battery in 2018. 

Ilford Recorder: Warren Smith, Mustafa Ismail, Matthew RobertsWarren Smith, Mustafa Ismail, Matthew Roberts (Image: NCA)Three of Cordwell’s organised crime group members were also jailed. 

Warren Smith, 40, of Stanford Rivers Road, Ongar, was jailed for 13 years and five months after he admitted conspiring to import cocaine, and being concerned in the supply of 58 kilos of cocaine and around 200 kilos of cannabis. 

Mustafa Ismail, 44, of Roycroft Close, Woodford, was jailed for 14 years and five months after he admitted conspiring to import 272kg of cannabis and being concerned in the supply of 27kg of cocaine and 25kg and 10,000 tablets of MDMA. 

Matthew Roberts, 47, of Mount Carbis Road, Redruth, was jailed for nine years after he admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possession with intent to supply cannabis. 

NCA operations manager Dean Wallbank said: “By dismantling Cordwell’s crime group, we have put an end to the harm it was bringing to UK streets.  

“These men were supplying substantial quantities of Class A drugs across Essex, and further afield as far as Cornwall. As well as organising drug deals, Cordwell was known as a feared criminal enforcer in Essex.”