Police say they cannot be certain about how long Duffin had been supplying drugs, but they don't think the racket was something that just got set up in 2016. While writing this article I tried to contact Leanne for an interview multiple times via two solicitors and a police contact, but received no answer. The levels of income Leanne was claiming the tanning business was taking couldn't be proved by her, so it would appear that any money she's got is from drugs rather than from Cosmopolitan.' We found the books as part of the search, and for a time the takings were being recorded, but they were meagre. 'There were genuine customers of that business. 'It was where the money was cleaned up,' says Lilley. Although comments on a Chorley Police Facebook post featuring Duffin's mug shot – which is one of the page’s most shared and commented upon images – suggest the salon should have been named 'Tan Lines', no evidence was found to suggest dealing was taking place there.

She must be a good saleswoman to get people on board and sell jail time to them.'ĭuffin's salon, the neon pink and green-fronted Cosmopolitan in Leyland, was a key element in creating that successful businesswoman image – but, according to police, it was little more than a front to launder money. I can’t explain why people would want to do that for her. This is a case of a female being a leader and directing those below her, definitely. 'Sometimes there’s a girlfriend involved, but she’s certainly not leading. 'The experience I've had is that the person who's put in a leading role is usually a male,' she explains. Lilley also says it's the first time she's come across a woman leading an organised crime group, and that nothing came out of the investigation to suggest an onward chain or pressure from above. It’s more common for a male to be leading.' Telephony showed that Leanne was definitely the one who was in control.

'This is one of the first where we've had a daughter running the show with her dad on board as well,' says Duckworth. With Duffin at the helm, the ring continued to supply drugs to local users for many months while being watched by police. Police believe the gang was getting to the stage where they thought they were 'untouchable'. 'We were getting snippets, and then there was enough weight to it to start the covert operation, with surveillance watching the group's movements.'Īlthough the evidence was stacking up and reports were acted upon, they initially 'never came to fruition', and Duffin's crew managed to avoid getting caught. 'Information was coming in from going out and speaking to local people, and we developed it from there,' explains Detective Sergeant Keith Duckworth from the intelligence unit at Chorley Police. Police first received intelligence on the cocaine and weed racket operating across Preston, Chorley, Leyland and other parts of the Lancashire borough of South Ribble in early 2016, and a protracted investigation was undertaken to try to catch the group. As well as running a well-known tanning salon, Duffin – it transpired – was the head of one of the biggest drug dealing syndicates in the recent history of Chorley, a Lancashire market town less than an hour's drive from Manchester. Apart from being 'quite good fun', it was the culmination of more than a year of covert operations. The arrests might have amused the locals and scuppered Duffin's dinner plans, but they were a huge result for Lilley and her team. One of the locals was an off-duty police officer, and even he said it was the most exciting thing that's ever happened round there.' They were approaching us afterwards, saying they knew something was up with them. 'She was saying: 'I can’t believe it, I've just paid for food and now we’re not even going to get to eat it.' It caused a bit of a sting in the pub. 'Leanne was gutted because the food in that pub was quite expensive, and she had literally just ordered it and we came along and arrested her,' says Danielle Lilley, detective constable at Lancashire Police. They were arrested for conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs. But before their food could make it out of the kitchen, undercover police officers walked in and handcuffed all three. The trio – Leanne Duffin, 31 her father Brian, 66 and their housemate, 19-year-old Jordan Whittle – sat at a table in the quaint country pub in the depths of north-west Wales and ordered lunch.

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