not really a taxi storyIt was a level of organised crime rarely seen in Hull before, and involved safe houses, anonymous hire cars and a mysterious flight to Amsterdam.
At the head of the gang was the slightly built, unassuming but clearly intelligent man prosecutors dubbed the "Puppet Master".
This was Liam Windas, who used a range of criminal contacts to source class A drugs, cannabis and, in a troubling development for both police and Hull's criminal underworld, guns and ammunition.
So vast was the wealth of evidence and material to put before the jury, it took prosecutor David Gordon the best part of two days to open the case at Hull Crown Court.
Windas, described as a "sophisticated criminal with a keen awareness of police tactics", got another man to hire and exchange cars for him, regularly switched phones and SIM cards, and employed others to move, cut and store drugs for him.
Mr Gordon had told the jury of the main weapons conspirators: "Neither Liam Windas or Zia Malik got their hands dirty with the guns, ammunition or the money, but instead used others to do the dirty and dangerous work for them, as you will see."
Police finally put a stop to the weapons plot when they stopped a white Toyota Prius taxi in Scunthorpe on October 29 that year. As well as carrying the now convicted defendant Noor Naeem as a passenger, it contained adapted revolvers and "expanding" bullets.
This part of the case also threw up other unanswered questions. The Prius was among a number of vehicles that had earlier been seen gathering in Harley Street, off Beverley Road, in west Hull.
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