Guixiang Liu, the premises licence holder at Napoleons on Bloom Street in Manchester’s Gay Village, and her husband Yanfeng He have each been jailed for 15 years for an international drug-trafficking operation run through the post, as the Manchester Evening News reported from Minshull Street Crown Court on 20 October.

The couple, of Kenmere Grove in Moston, were convicted at trial earlier this year of conspiring to import MDMA and cannabis and conspiring to supply them, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The court heard that the drugs were hidden in items including cushion covers, speakers and picture frames between June and December 2019. Prosecutor Louise Kitchin told the court that the intercepted parcels included around 24kg of MDMA with an estimated street value of £1.1 million, the Manchester Evening News reported.

Barristers for the couple argued that they had not played a leading role, and Liu’s barrister said she maintained her denials. Judge Neil Usher rejected that, saying there had been “sustained participation, with commercial quantities and careful planning on an international scale”.

The NCA said the parcels were destined for five addresses controlled by the couple, including Napoleons, the Manchester Evening News reported. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) told a council licensing panel on 17 September that the investigation began in December 2019, when Border Force intercepted parcels from Europe, and that one of them was addressed to a fictitious name at the Napoleons address and contained 2.86kg of MDMA, according to the meeting minutes.

GMP applied for a summary review of the bar’s premises licence on 15 September on the grounds that the premises were associated with serious crime. Two days later the panel suspended the licence with immediate effect pending a full review, the minutes show. Liu had held the current licence since 19 February 2026 and was also the designated premises supervisor, according to the council report for the full review.

In a report ahead of that review, quoted by the Manchester Evening News, GMP said the premises had been sublet since April 2026 to a third party running the basement restaurant, and that the council had not been told of a new licence holder or designated premises supervisor.

The full review was listed for a Licensing Sub Committee Hearing Panel on 12 October, according to the meeting agenda. The options before councillors ranged from changing the licence conditions or removing the supervisor to suspending the licence for up to three months or revoking it. As of 21 October, the council had not published the outcome of that hearing on its website.

It is not the first time the venue’s licence has been reviewed. In May 2024 a council panel revoked a previous premises licence for Napoleons after an immigration compliance check, according to the council’s minutes.

Sources: Manchester Evening News, 20 October 2026; Manchester Evening News, 11 October 2026; Manchester City Council, Licensing Sub Committee Hearing Panel minutes, 17 September 2026; Manchester City Council, report for the summary review hearing, 12 October 2026; Manchester City Council, agenda, 12 October 2026; Manchester City Council, review of a premises licence, Napoleons, 28 May 2024. This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.