The major international sting involved a system . READ MORE: 'Billy Whizz' EncroChat gang moved nearly 500,000 of speed, 52 -55. Cops Investigating 'WhatsApp for Gangsters' Arrest Key Suspect in Caribbean. EncroChat: What it is, who was running it, and how did criminals get He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply each of the drugs and was jailed for 16 years. He was brought down by an investigation that led to police storming his home on Park Road North in Birkenhead, as well as two container units in the town, in June, when they seized a Rolex watch and 82,000 in cash. READ MORE: 'Bro we be multimillionaires in three months haha' boasted dealer. 14 Encrochat dealers and the nicknames they used to avoid police Dillon used the EncroChat codename "WaspLawn", while Keating used the handles "DullTuna" and "WealthyMace", and Garforth called himself "DiorIce". 3) Tick as many boxes as you like, for each newsletter you want. . Thomas Brabbins, 28, of Cherry Tree Road, Huyton, was sentenced to seven years six months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to supply and two counts of possession of criminal property and possession of cannabis. Demand for the devices soared as law enforcement officials shut down older, rival encrypted networks, including one called EncroChat that was dismantled in July 2020 and another, Sky Global, that . It operated on customised Android phones and, according to its website, provided "worry-free secure communications". Peter Heron was caught supplying cocaine and cannabis as part of the EncroChat hack. Guns, Grenades Seized, 746 Arrests In 'Biggest Ever' UK Police Bust In March 2021 Motherboard published details from a cache of emails that showed the shadowy corporate structure behind EncroChat. These are the 113 people who have been charged by the Met Police: Abdelilah HILALI, aged 42, of no fixed abode, Abdsamei CHARKAOUI, 36, Princedale Road, Kensington & Chelsea, Ahmed Khan JABARKHIL, 27, Vimy Close, Hounslow, Aleksandrs KRASIJEVS, 56, Darenth Road, Welling, Bexley, Alexander GUEST, 39, Mansted Gardens, Romford, Anne-Marie BUTLER, 52, South Road, Feltham, Hounslow, Anthony DOMINY, 63, Little Heath Road, Bexleyheath, Bexley, Anthony SELLICK, 33, Clunas Gardens, Romford, Havering, Arlton LEWIS-TURNER, 30, South Quay Square, Tower Hamlets, Ashley WILTSHIRE, 41, Uplands Way, Enfield, Augustus BECKLEY, 30, Flat Iron Square, Southwark, Ben JONES, 44, Knowsley Road, Norwich, Norfolk, Calvin CRUMP, 24, Malmstone Avenue, Merstham, Redhill, Surrey, Casper WILSON ST-JAMES, 26, Agar Grove, Camden, Cavan HANNA, 50, Pinewood Place, Dartford, Kent, Charles HARRIS, 41, Milner Square, Islington, Charlie BAINBOROUGH, 30, Beck Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Charlie MORAN, 28, The Avenue, Bickley, Bromley, Charly DAVIDSON, 25, The Quarterdeck, Tower Hamlets, Kris SIMMONS, 43, Hatfield Heath Road, Sawbridgeworth, Christopher MICHAELIDES, 51, Millwall Crescent, Chigwell, Essex, Craig ROUSE, 39, Brook Street, Aylesbury, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, Daniel DALLIGAN, 53, Station Road, Dartford, Crayford, Bexley, Daniel MCNEIL-DUNCAN, 35, The Galleries, Brentwood, Warley, Essex, Danny RICHINGS, 29, Harvey Gardens, Greenwich, Dominquo FOSTER, 23, Melrose Avenue, London, Fazil SHEIKH, 36, Northcote Avenue, Southall, Frank WELLS, 39, Margherita Place, Waltham Abbey, Essex, Frankie CLARK, 21, Musgrave Road, Greenwich, Gareth MORRIS, 54, Eastview Avenue, Greenwich, Gareth Roy MATHIAS, 47, Greenhaven Drive, Greenwich, Gavin KALLO, 43, Well Hall Road, Greenwich, George EVANS, 21, Selbourne Square, Godstone, Surrey, Hamid CHARKAOUI, 42, Bevington Road, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Harry EL ARABY, 33, Oaklands, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Harry HINKS-SAMUELS, 27, Stanley Kubrick Road, Denham, Uxbridge, Buckinghamshire, Jack LEE, 31, Ludworth Road, Welling, Bexley, James DAVIDSON, 33, The Quarterdeck, Tower Hamlets, James OHARA, 48, Flaxen Road, Waltham Forest, James SKILLING, 32, Pelton Road, Greenwich, Jamie HANNA, 48, Martin Drive, Dartford, Stone, Kent, Jimmy GOTTSHALK, 32, Ringwood Road, Wolverhampton, Jody HALL, 46, Carters Hill Close, Mottingham, Bromley, John KEANE, 59, Fairfoot Road, Tower Hamlets, Jonathan WHITLEY, 53, Park Road, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, Joseph VIDLER, 29, Mayes Road, Tonbridge, Marden, Kent, Joshua ST-ANGE, 32, Church Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Julian AGALLIU, 45, Musgrave Close, Barnet, Enfield, Kerry HUGHES, 53, Wydeville Manor Road, Grove Park, Lewisham, Landi SAKALA, 44, Yorkland Avenue, Welling, Bexley, Lee MORTIMER, 37, Glenhurst Avenue, Ruislip, Lee Paul WILLETTS, 27, Pembroke Road, Greenford, Ealing, Lee William ANDERSON, 61, South Road, Feltham, Hounslow, Leo GRAY, 28, Bridgewater Drive, Westcliff-on-sea, Southend-on-Sea, Liam BILES, 32, John Eliot Close, Nazeing, Waltham Abbey, Essex, Liam TULLET, 29, Bloomfield, Road, Greenwich, Lovepreet SINGH, 22, Upton Lea Parade, Wexham Road, Slough, Luchieo JOHN, 29, Admiralty Avenue, Silvertown, Newham, Marc SEYMOUR, 58, Craymill Square, Crayford, Bexley, Marcus ELMER, 48, Riverbank Point, High Street, Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Marlon WILLIAMS, 40, Rossiter Fields, Underhill, Barnet, Matthew EXALL, 24, Shirley House Drive, Greenwich, Milan HUSSAIN, 34, Melford Road, East Ham, Miles HEADLEY, 24, Mount Nod Road, Lambeth, Mohamed AHMED, 49, Clarence Gardens, Camden, Mohammed SABEK, 33, Clem Attlee Court, Hammersmith & Fulham, Muhamad USMAN, 33, Keveloic Road, Tottenham, Muhammad Arslan KHALID, 46, Woodlands Road, Southall, Ealing, Nacoli BRAVO, 34, Patterdale Road, Dartford, Kent, Nagib OMAR, 30, York Parade, Brentford, Hounslow, Paul JONES, 40, Epsom Grove, Tower Hill, Liverpool, Paul O'BRIEN, 53, Manor Way, Southall, Ealing, Peter THOMPSON, 56, Lidiard Road, Wandsworth, Philemon GHEZZEHEY, 25, Scotts Road, Hammersmith & Fulham, Rayco PEREZ, 30, The Chase, Oxshott, Leatherhead, Surrey, Rebecca MCDONALD, 47, Danescombe, Lewisham, London, Robert WIGGINS, 42, Westbourne Grove, Kensington & Chelsea, Rozanna GRAY, 27, Bridgewater Drive, Westcliff-on-sea, Southend-on-Sea, Ruslan SHAMSUTDINOV, 35, Glenister Road, Greenwich, Sean SKINNER, 41, Nightingale Vale, Greenwich, Stacey THOMPSON, 41, Lidiard Road Wandsworth London, Stephen Chimunya SAKALA, 34, Gatesborough Street, Hackney, Stephen WILLIS, 34, Chevington Way, Hornchurch, Havering, Tariq HUSSAIN, 28, Seymour Road, Mitcham, Sutton, Terrence OCONNOR, 24, Webb Street, Bolton, Horwich, Tjay BURRELL, 30, Glendale, Swanley, Kent, Tyler TANNER, 23, Henderson Drive, Dartford, Kent, Udham SINGH, 20, Upton Lea Parade, Wexham Road, Slough, Vickrahdeep SAHOTA, 28, Eastcourt Avenue, Reading, Vincent OJO, 30, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, Yassin SIYAHLA, 27, Holland Close, Redhill, Surrey, Yousefe ELBRIRI, 26, Oxford Gardens, Kensington & Chelsea, Armed police raid houses during Operation Venetic. James Duckworth, 42, of Langdale Close, Kirkby, was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. NCA director of investigations Nikki Holland said: "This is the biggest and the most significant law enforcement operation of its kind in the UK and it is previously unmatched in terms of its scale.". Some of the evidence has been obtained by French police, who have intercepted many messages on the encrypted EncroChat programme used by criminal networks across the continent in recent months after breaching its . Police intercepted millions of messages including that of one of the suspects, a 40-year-old man from The Hague. But at least the CIA's mistakes were understandable in many cases. Then last year, U.S. authorities also charged Jean-Francois Eap, the CEO of the largest encrypted phone company called Sky Global, with similar offenses. Coordinated by Europol and specialist French investigators, the string of arrests comes two years after French police hacked into the encrypted messaging network, used by thousands of high end criminals to discuss drug deals, money laundering and violence. The dad-of-two . 31 people sentenced to 366 years in prison in first year after The system also had a panic wipe, which meant all data could be removed from the device by entering a four-digit code from the lock-screen. Try for 30 days ( free of charge) the DigitalBank Vault SuperEncryption System . Skillen, 35, of Long Lane, Orford, Warrington, was found to be an EncroChat user, using the handle "SavageArrow". Faces and codenames of EncroChat criminals linked to Merseyside Pinnington was jailed for nine years and four months. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Amphetamine marked up with pictures of The Beano character Billy Whizz traded by an EncroChat drug gang based in St Helens, Christopher Dooley, 35, of no fixed address but from St Helens, James Ward, 32, of no fixed address but from Kirkby, Jamie Carlton, 40, of Church Road, Waterloo. An unidentified source associated with EncroChat . UPDATED WITH SENTENCE: Merseyside man convicted of selling cannabis on Police have made more than 1,000 arrests in the UK after French investigators infected EncroChat phones around the world with a software "implant" that covertly harvested messages and data . Both L. Wilkinson and Dalby was sentenced to six years and eight months. Mr Horne described it as a "command and control . READ MORE: EncroChat dealer 'Tamewelder' caught with ten kilos of cocaine and weed. You can also sign up to our court newsletter here and get a twice weekly roundup of court cases sent your email inbox for free. Liam Garvey - ChopperReid and ButterflyJuice. Auckland, New Zealand +64-021-567-212 elephant rhyme to remember planets The police have managed to establish the true identity of the users by analysing their individual messages and personal information. The hacking of the network was compared to cracking the enigma code by Nikki Holland, then director of investigations at the NCA. Alexander Keating, 30, of Lunts Heath Road, Widnes. Do you know anything else about Encrochat or its owners? The single text that sent shockwaves through UK crime - mirror They were caught after an 18-month investigation and were among the 250-plus arrests made in GMP's strand of the National Crime Agency's . Arrested 133 people Charged 101 people Seized 4 loaded firearms and ammunition Seized 72 kgs of cocaine and heroine Seen 31 people convicted to a total of 366 years in prison 1.6M in cash And this is just the beginning, with more activity and arrests to come in the coming months. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The dealer, of Manorwood Drive, Whiston, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to four counts of supplying the drugs. The UK has arrested more than 1,500 suspects since European detectives cracked an encrypted messaging service 10 months ago used by criminals to organise major drug smuggling operations and gangland hits. Begin . . Cops Hacked Thousands of Phones. Was It Legal? | WIRED London crime: Ealing thug caught hiding a shotgun when police raided Southall home; Read More Related Articles The drugs boss talked about importation runs from Colombia, St Lucia and Brazil, and also discussed his love of poker. He used the Encrochat handles Scantbee and Sandferret. Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded. The 38-year-old, from Bury, used the EncroChat encrypted phone network to bring 'at the very least' 84.5 kilos of cocaine and 59 kilos of heroin. Luxton dealt in various class A drugs and said he 'remained in the game' after 380,000 worth of drugs was stolen and he had to repay the debt to 'TopsKing'. NCA and police smash thousands of criminal conspiracies after When Police Are Hackers: Hundreds Charged as Encrypted Network Is But when the secret messaging service was cracked by police last year, EncroChat users and their illicit dealings were uncovered. Harding then used a new handle called "LesserHedge", to continue carrying out his criminal activity. In March 2021 Motherboard published details from a cache of emails, Encrochat Lawyers Say Clients Haven't Had Fair Trials, The Network: How a Secretive Phone Company Helped the Crime World Go Dark, charged with conspiracy to murder and cocaine trafficking, have not received fair trials due to the intense secrecy. UK arrests hundreds after EncroChat criminal chatroom cracked British authorities have arrested 746 suspects, seized tens of millions in cash, dozens of firearms and high-value cars, 2 tonnes of drugs, and even grenades in the country's "biggest ever law enforcement operation". He was arrested in April at Stansted Airport as he returned from Spain, where he had stayed for a few weeks. They revealed how the firm used a shell company in Panama and included an EncroChat member sharing the details of a bank account in Luxembourg with an associate for conducting EncroChat business. 746 arrests were made in the UK alone. Following today's guilty verdict, he will be sentenced on 4 January 2022 at . Lenehan had connections to Dubai and exchanged messages suggesting his influence may have stretched to India and Iran. It was used primarily by organized crime members to plan criminal activities. Major crime figures were among over 800 Europe-wide arrests after messages on EncroChat were intercepted and decoded. Talbot, of Elson Road, Formby, was locked up alongside James Ward, 32, of no fixed address but from Kirkby, and Jamie Carlton, 40, of Church Road, Waterloo. Inside top-secret 3k-a-year EncroChat phone system used by UK's Shaun Harrison, 33, of South Street, Thatto Heath, was sentenced to 10 years eight months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis. The above nine . A video posted online by police showed officers entering the containers, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant, Coded hidden note led to Italy mafia boss arrest. Dentith, 29, of College View, Huyton, was sentenced to 17 years three months after pleading guilty to supply cocaine and ecstasy. The Tobin brothers Alan Tobin, 52, (left) and John Tobin, 40, (right). Since the first EncroChat related busts began in 2020, the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) said police in Britain had so far arrested 2,864 people, prosecuted 1,571 and convicted 383with many receiving hefty sentences for large scale drug trafficking. The containers were located in Wouwse Plantage, south of Rotterdam, after French police cracked encrypted phones used by criminals. Anthony Connolly, 29, of Ellerman Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to 14 years and six months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin, conspiracy to supply cannabis, and conspiracy to possess/convert/acquire criminal property. The 29-year-old planned to move abroad as soon as his licence period for a past sentence for trafficking cocaine expired. Lenehan, of Scarisbrick Road in Walton, but who lived in Dubai until recently, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and making a false statement to gain a passport. The major drug boss, who used the code name 'Bigmninee', was also known within the criminal underworld as a 'go-to man' for crooks who wanted guns. When European authorities hacked EncroChat in 2020, after announcing the operation publicly, they asked the owners to come forward because they had been unable to identify them. Two EncroChat drug dealers conspired to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis across Merseyside. Dozens of criminals embedded in Merseyside's underworld have been jailed after an international operation brought down EncroChat. To get a behind the scenes look at how they work and the moments that don't make our stories, subscribe to our free weekly Echo Court Files newsletter, written by court reporter Neil Docking. Both men admitted conspiring to supply Class A and Class B drugs. Harrison Laite used an Encrochat phone to supply multiple kilos of cannabis on the streets on Merseyside. UK law enforcement has made a massive breakthrough in the fight against serious and organised crime after the takedown of a bespoke encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals. Police arrest 746 and seize more than 54,000,000 after - Metro Jordan Hughes, 30, of Huyton, was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiring to supplying multi-kilos of heroin and cocaine.
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