‘Queen Bee’ Crime Boss Jailed for £80 Million Drug Plot Involving Family Members

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A 65-year-old grandmother known as the “Queen Bee” has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a large-scale drug trafficking operation that spanned the United Kingdom and involved her own children and relatives.

Deborah Mason, dubbed “gangster Granny” by officers, led the network from her north London home, overseeing the movement of nearly a tonne of cocaine over just seven months. The Class A drugs, which were distributed nationwide, carried a wholesale value of up to £35 million and a street value exceeding £80 million.

Mason was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court on April 28 for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and sentenced on Thursday, July 18. She is believed to have sourced the drugs through a known supplier referred to only as “Bugsy” and maintained regular contact to coordinate the illicit supply chain.

Family Syndicate

Eight members of Mason’s inner circle were sentenced to a combined 106 years and six months. Those involved included her sister, her children, their partners, and a close friend. The group operated a complex but highly profitable trafficking network under Mason’s leadership, with various members playing “significant” roles, according to police.

Among those sentenced were Mason’s daughters, Demi Bright, 30, and Roseanne Mason, 29, who each received 11-year terms. Another daughter, Lillie Bright, 26, was handed a 13-year sentence, while her partner, Chloe Hodgkin, is yet to be sentenced due to pregnancy.

Mason’s son, Reggie Bright, 24, and his partner, Demi Kendall, 31, were sentenced to 15 years and 13 years and six months, respectively. Mason’s 66-year-old sister, Tina Golding, received 10 years, while Demi Bright’s friend, Anita Slaughter, 44, was sentenced to 13 years.

Detective Constable Jack Kraushaar of the Metropolitan Police Service (Met) led the investigation, describing the operation as “sophisticated” and highly lucrative. “Following months of work by the Met Police to relentlessly pursue these perpetrators, we were able to arrest and eventually convict them, preventing more drugs from flooding streets across the UK, which leads to violence, antisocial behaviour and misery for communities,” he said in a statement.

Mason’s home in Tufnell Park served as the gang’s central hub. Investigators found that the drug operation funded a lavish lifestyle, including holidays, designer shopping sprees, and plans for cosmetic surgery abroad. On one occasion, gang members even brought their children along to collect packages of cocaine.

Robert Hutchinson, Specialist Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), condemned Mason’s actions, stating, “This was no ordinary family. Instead of nurturing and caring for her relatives, Deborah Mason recruited them to establish an extraordinarily profitable criminal enterprise that would ultimately put them all behind bars.”

The case has raised further questions about how deeply criminal networks can become embedded within families and communities, and how vulnerable individuals, including children, can be pulled into criminal lifestyles under the influence of dominant figures.

Hodgkin’s sentencing has been postponed to a later date.