Huge armed police convoy spotted in Liverpool city center for weeks and we can finally say why – Liverpool Echo, Liverpoolecho.co.uk

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The story behind a huge armed police convoy that was used to escort a prison van can finally be revealed.

Officers fromMerseyside Policewere tasked with transporting a large armored vehicle through the streets ofLiverpoolover the last few weeks.

They were often spotted onEdge Lane, the East Lancs, Walton Lane and theStrand.

Video footage and images taken of the convoy taken in September and October also showed how police manoeuvred through rush hour traffic in the mornings and afternoons, often blocking roads to allowed the stream of police and prison vehicles to pass toget

Despite dozens ofECHO readersasking about the circumstances of the massive operation, legally restrictions meant that the reason for it could not be revealed – until now.

A number of court orders, linked to the convoy, have now been lifted and we can now say that theconvoy was transporting prisoners to a high profile trialatLiverpool Crown Court.

Members of two organized crime groups, involved in bomb making, firearms, shootings and drug dealing were jailed for over 300 years on Friday.

A number of the gang members were transported to the city center courthouse after an operation byMerseyside Policeled to their capture.

Among those jailed was bomb maker Christopher Wallace, who was at the top of the sprawling organized crime group. He was jailed for life.

Brothers Jake and Callum Burrows, who ruled over the East Side street gang inSpeke, were jailed for a combined 45 years for their role in the conspiracy.

The Burrows brothers floodedSpekewith hard drugs, fought a turf war with rivals and terrified locals.

Wallace, originally fromDingle, sourced firearms from dangerous criminals in the Midlands, while the Burrows brothers and their associates were involved inCounty Linesdrug gangs. But a wave of police raids smashed the gang and disrupted an alliance between various criminal factions.

This weekLiverpool Crown courtheard details of the roles each defendant played in the vast criminal conspiracy.

At the top of the criminal hierarchy was Christopher Wallace, 35. He turned a back street garage inSeacombeinto an armory where customers from the underworld ordered guns and drugs.

Judge Denis Watson QC told the court that Wallace was an “armorer” and “bombmaker” who also supplied Class A drugs.

Judge Watson said that the pipe bombs discovered at Jaxson Motors could have “killed and maimed “.

You can read more about the sentencing of the gangHERE.