A former MMA fighter has admitted his involvement in a drug trafficking plot after being accused of being a “senior figure” in a gang. It was reported in the Liverpool Echo that Paul “Boom Boom” Cahoon was on trial after being linked to moving cocaine and amphetamine from Merseyside in England to South Wales ten years ago.
Cahoon only recently admitted his involvement due to the fact that he fled to Dubai following a series of drug seizures nearly a decade ago before he was extradited back to the UK in 2024. He is set to be sentenced today (Friday January 10) after he admitted the charges on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Stephen McNally made reference to the fact that Cahoon had gained some notoriety during his days as a professional fighter. The 49-year old amassed an official record of 13-12 having faced the likes of Melvin Manhoef on two occasions with bouts against Elvis Sinosic and Ian Freeman in the UK promotion Cage Rage. He hasn’t fought since 2010 having made his pro debut back in 1998.
Multiple other men have been linked to the operation with several class A and B drug seizures taking place. McNally explained to the court how Cahoon appeared to be at the center of things having reportedly used nine different phone numbers during a period of six-months.
“The prosecution case is that Paul Cahoon was a senior figure within these conspiracies,” McNally told the court. “We say that Mr Cahoon had other people carrying out tasks on his instructions and that, by the way he acted, it was obvious that he was alive to the risk of detection and that he took steps to avoid it.
“The prosecution say that he was chopping and changing his telephone numbers in order to make it harder for any investigation to identify who he was in contact with, when he was in contact with them and who was in contact with him. That poses a question. Why would Mr Cahoon want to conceal his telephone contact? The prosecution’s case is, because it related to conspiracies to supply drugs.”
Cahoon’s defense against this was that this was due to the notoriety he had developing during his active MMA career but McNally argued that the communications aligned to similarly with the drug trafficking case.
“The prosecution’s case is it is simply too much of a coincidence that there is the level and timing of contact by Mr Cahoon than it is anything other than an indication that he was involved in the conspiracies.”
