A former Liverpool football prodigy of “exceptional talent and promise” has been jailed for more than 13 years for his part in a multimillion-pound drugs conspiracy. Jamie Cassidy, 46, was “drawn” into the drugs business by his brother Jonathan Cassidy, 50, who the court heard joked about having the same birthday as the Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, also known as El Chapo. Another man, Nasar Ahmed, 51, played a “leading” role alongside the former footballer’s brother in the international drug supply and the money-laundering operation, Manchester crown court heard. All three were jailed for involvement in the cocaine supply plot, dealing 356kg, worth about £26m. Jamie Cassidy was jailed for 13 years and three months. Jonathan Cassidy and Ahmed were each jailed for 21 years and nine months. All three had been in custody since arrest in 2020. Jonathan Cassidy and Ahmed had admitted at an earlier hearing importation of drugs in March and April 2020. Judge Nicholas Dean said: “It would not be accurate to say you were an organised group. You operated independently of each other but cooperatively to your own benefit. “What is required with this sentence in a fair assessment of the overall offending is one’s individual role but also the scale on which they offended.” Jamie Cassidy played with Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher at Liverpool FC as they went on to win the FA Youth Cup in 1996, beating a West Ham United team including Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard. He suffered injuries early in his senior career. Paul Greaney KC, defending Cassidy, said: “Jamie Cassidy was a footballer of exceptional talent and promise. He was signed by Liverpool Football Club in his home town at the age of nine and subsequently, along with Jamie Carragher, was rewarded with one of only 16 places at the FA’s centre of excellence. “At 15 he was leading scorer for the England under-16s team. The following season he was top scorer in the under-16s England team, with six goals, including [two] in the [1994] European Championships … then he broke into Liverpool’s first team, but two injuries then entirely wrecked his career.” Jamie Cassidy had an “operational/managerial role”, according to the prosecutor, Richard Wright KC, and although he had no part in the importation of drugs, he did act on the direction of those above him to make sure drugs were distributed to dealers. Ahmed was the facilitator, transferring sums of money to buy and sell drugs. The older Cassidy played a leading role in importing the drugs using the network he had built in property development. The cocaine, imported from Holland, supplied users in north-west England, Birmingham and Leeds. The business was concealed by the use of encrypted mobile phones. In 2020 French law enforcement accessed the data. This was shared with the National Crime Agency, which then relayed it to police forces across the UK. On the encrypted messaging system EncroChat, the group went by anonymous handles. Jonathan Cassidy was “whiskywasp”, Ahmed was “dottedjaw”and Jamie Cassidy was “nucleardog”. After police had compromised the system, Ahmed was arrested in June 2020. Jonathan Cassidy fled to Dubai as a fugitive where he inquired about purchasing a villa with a budget of £2.3m. He later returned to the UK, where he was arrested and charged.