And in the case of 65-year-old Deborah Mason, aka “Gangsta Debbs,” the familial affection was also wildly profitable.
That’s because Granny was a drug dealer.
It was the perfect cover—who would suspect a little old lady with a laundry bag was the matriarch of a crime family that covered southeast England, trafficking massive quantities of cocaine worth some £80 million on the street?
Judge Philip Shorrock accused her of corrupting her children.
A proper family operation, Mason’s business involved her four children, two of their significant others, as well as Mason’s sister and a close friend. All shared in the profits and all helped support Grandma’s lavish lifestyle, which included holidays to Europe and Dubai, designer clothes and accessories and, for her beloved Bengal kitty, Ghost, a custom-engraved collar and a Gucci leash. Next on the agenda: cosmetic procedures in Turkey.
But beneath the surface of her indulgent lifestyle, law enforcement was closing in.
Britain’s Metropolitan Police tracked her for seven months as she completed 20 drug-related trips, trafficking at least 356 kilos of cocaine. During that time, the family gang supplied nearly a ton of cocaine—or the equivalent of at least 10 million doses of the substance.
How many mothers’ and grandmothers’ hearts does that break?
As she is arrested and cuffed on video in her bathroom, she affects a hurt and bewildered attitude. “Come on!” she is heard whimpering as she sits perched next to her DKNY bath towels.
On July 18, Deborah Mason was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Her family members and friend were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years for the same charge.
Judge Philip Shorrock accused her of corrupting her children.
“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,” said specialist prosecutor Robert Hutchinson.
Grandmothers care and nurture. They do good things. They knit scarves and fashion knickknacks for the little ones. They babysit the toddler so that Mom and Dad can have a date night. They volunteer as Mrs. Claus in the town’s annual parade.
Deborah Mason was obviously different.
Instead of helping her community, this grandma poisoned it.
Instead of setting an example, she dragged her children into crime.
And instead of retiring in peace, she’ll spend her golden years behind bars.
