An Encrochat dealer was caught after sending a 'selfie' holding drugs.
Ashur Rasamuel Thomas was identified from his fingerprints after sharing an image on his Encro device of him holding a cannabis reefer [cigarette] in his hand.
The 38-year-old of Osborne Road, Birkenhead, Wirral, was then arrested as part of the Merseyside Police response to Operation Venetic - an international operation targeting criminals who used a mobile encryption service, commonly referred to as Encrochat, in an attempt to evade detection.
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Detectives discovered Thomas was using a number of different handles including ‘Wordybike’, ‘Pretty’ and ‘Ash’ while carrying out his crimes.
Merseyside Police said he was "found to play a leading role to produce multiple quantities of cocaine on a commercial basis".
Thomas entered a guilty plea at an earlier court hearing and admitted to supplying 6kg of cocaine and was sentenced yesterday (15 December) to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.
Detective Inspector Mike Dalton spoke about the sentencing, he said: "This a really good result, and as you can see from the Operation Venetic convictions taken place in last few weeks’ we are making good progress by exposing criminals who lay under the radar and bringing them to justice.
"Our operation doesn’t just affect serious organised crime taking place at the higher end, but it is also reaching down to street level drug deals and county lines operations.
"Ultimately people in our communities are seeing a positive difference in their neighbourhood and making it a safer place to live.
"I think this sends a clear message to criminals that crime doesn’t pay – we’ll continue to be relentless in our pursuit of offenders."
Anyone with information is asked to DM Merseyside Police on Twitter @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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