A number of EncroChat dealers have been jailed in December as police continue to dismantle gangs across Merseyside.
Police continue to target criminals using encrypted mobile devices to sell drugs across Merseyside and the UK.
Commonly referred to as EncroChat, criminals have used the system to adopt and hide behind code names.
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Around 60,000 users of EncroChat have been identified worldwide, with about 10,000 of them in the UK – all involved in coordinating and planning the supply and distribution of drugs and weapons, money laundering and other criminal activity.
This month at least 20 dealers have been locked up after appearing at Liverpool Crown Court.
Here are all the EncroChat cases The ECHO has covered in December.
Encrochat 'Loadedsun' dealer jailed after returning from Spain
Harrison Laite was caught by police investigating Operation Venetic - an international operation targeting criminals who used a mobile encryption service, known as Encrochat.
The 25-year-old, of Moss Way, Croxteth, sent text messages under the user name 'Loadedsun' discussing the sale of £136,000 worth of cannabis.
Operation Venetic detectives discovered that Laite used the handle 'Loadedsun' to supply multi-kilo quantities of drugs across Merseyside.
He was then arrested in April at Stansted Airport as he returned from Spain, where he had stayed for a few weeks.
Laite was sentenced on Friday, December 3, at Liverpool Crown Court to four years in prison.
EncroChat dealer's empire crushed after he told contacts when his birthday was
George Marsh's shared details about his birthday and the dates of his father's death and funeral.
The insight into his life allowed detectives to match the messages of EncroChat codenames SneakyStem and WackySilver to the 33-year-old.
Marsh was linked to the distribution of 25kgs of cocaine, 110kgs of cannabis and 1kg of ketamine and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply each of the drugs.
His enterprise saw him work with Bradley Luxton, who used the EncroChat handles SoupHedge and MerrySword and was jailed for 16 years in August.
Marsh 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.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, told Marsh that "drugs wreak havoc and wreck lives" as he sentenced him to 16 years.
Dad's drug deals with 'BiggieSmalls' and 'SixTimesLFC' on EncroChat
Woolton roofer and charity volunteer Kevin Daniels, 40, was viewed as an "honest, trustworthy and an excellent worker" by colleagues.
But when he lost his job in late 2019, Liverpool Crown Court was told the family man turned to working as a courier for major drug dealers.
Daniels was exposed as the user of the profile "ExoticApe" when the covert phone network was hacked by police agencies last year.
He ferried at least 44 kilos of cocaine and handled £1.5m, "using his family home as a safehouse to store the vast amounts of money".
Prosecutors outlined how he was paid "wages" by a mystery drug boss who used the handle "AlissonBecker" on EncroChat.
The identity of the crook who took the Liverpool goalkeeper's name as his moniker remains shrouded in secrecy.
Daniels was jailed for 10 years and eight months.
EncroChat drug dealer's luxury lifestyle exposed as a sham
Thomas O'Brien was sentenced to 18 years in jail after he was revealed as a leading heroin, cocaine and cannabis supplier.
But Liverpool Crown Court heard his real life was far from the "champagne lifestyle" he pretended to enjoy.
O'Brien, who had a scar on his cheek and went behind the EncroChat codename of ScarWars, was linked to 12kgs of cocaine and 3kgs of heroin through his involvement in a network of criminals sentenced to a combined total of more than 89 years.
That gang was brought down by Merseyside Police's Operation Overboard. Raids in March of this year marked the end of the group's exploits.
O’Brien was the only one of the three men identified as leading gang members to take his case to trial, but was convicted of conspiracies to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis.
Ahead of his sentencing, the court was given an insight into his lifestyle as the extent of any profit he made from crime was called into question.
Trevor Parry-Jones, defending, said prosecutors had pointed to O'Brien's possession of Rolex watches, Louboutin footwear and bottles of champagne as being indicative of his prominent role within Merseyside's drugs trade.
But, describing his client as "a man of straw", Mr Parry-Jones said: "The Rolexes were fake, the Louboutins were fake, and the champagne bottles were from his wedding... he lived in rented accommodation and indeed the cars that he drove were not his, they were rented similarly."
EncroChat drug gang's empire crumbles as members jailed for over 89 years
James Wright, Sean Burrell and Thomas O’Brien were high-ranking drug dealers who commanded influence over a chain of criminals.
Their operation involved safehouses, cannabis farms and negotiations held during clandestine hotel meetings before it was brought down in dawn raids.
Police struck at 11 homes across Merseyside on March 26 as they took out drug dealers working across Liverpool and Wirral.
Properties were stormed as the suspects slept unaware their “commercial scale” operation had been cracked by Merseyside Police.
The strike day followed previous operations that had led to £237,000 being found in one dealer’s home and came after the EncroChat messages of several key members had been analysed by detectives.
In total, the gang was linked to 48kg of cocaine, 22kg of heroin and 30kg of cannabis.
Nine members were jailed for a combined total of just 100 years across court hearings.
These included James Wright, of Gateacre Brow in Gateacre, Sean Burrell of Park Road, L8, Thomas O’Brien of Finch Lea Drive in Knotty Ash, Marvin Porcelli of Gray Street in Bootle, Stephen Sinclair of Pilch Lane, David Conroy of Luke Street in Toxteth, Kieran Meehan of Queens Drive in Wavertree, Michael Joseph of Rock Lane East, Birkenhead and Martin McCoy of Bewey Close in Toxteth.
EncroChat gang that planned to flood Liverpool with heroin jailed
Stephen Hunt, 60, Dylan Sanger, 34, Tyrone Holbrook-Harris, 27 and Darren Barrett, 41 planned to import more than 90 kilos of Class A drugs a week.
Hunt, of Main Street, Great Oxenden, Northamptonshire, used an EncroChat phone to liaise with criminal contacts and used the handle 'Nobleblood.'
His Encrochat phone messages revealed the gang's heroin would be forwarded to Liverpool where he planned to set up a new office.
The EncroChat network was hacked through a joint operation between French and Dutch investigators 15 months ago.
It’s believed the heroin was also being sold along the North Wales coast.
Other EncroChat conversations indicated the gang was importing at least 24 kilos of Class A drugs per week with plans to import more than 90 kilos per week.
Hunt, who lived in Spain between 2001 and 2014 , was jailed for 10 years and nine months today at Caernarfon Crown Court, after admitting conspiring to supply class A drugs.
Sanger, 34, of Bailey Avenue, Ellesmere Port, used the EncroChat handles Syruproad and Swankyboar.
Sanger secured individuals and premises to receive the drugs, and organised cash payments to those involved.
When Sanger was arrested in August last year officers found around £9,000 hidden behind his car’s dashboard and £1,300 in his house.
He was jailed for nine years.
Also jailed were Tyrone Holbrook-Harris, 27, of Hillside Crescent, Buckley, Flintshire, who took his orders from Sanger. And Darren Barrett, 41, of Village Road, Northop Hall in Mold, who took his orders from Holbrook-Harris. Holbrook-Harris and Barrett were sentenced to six years and five years three months respectively.
All the men admitted conspiring to supply class A drugs.
EncroChat dealer 'Specialivy and Customcab' jailed for 12 years
Jamie Lyon, of Clovelly Grove has been sentenced to 12 years, for his involvement in dealing drugs through the encrypted phone network.
The 30-year-old used the handles Specialivy and Customcab to sell a variety of class A and class B drugs including ecstasy tablets, cocaine and cannabis.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: "A Runcorn man has been jailed for 12 years after being convicted of conspiracy to supplying Class A and B drugs.
"Jamie Lyon, 30, of Clovelly Grove, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Monday 21st December, to 12 years in prison.
"Lyon, who used the handles Specialivy and Customcab, was convicted in relation to the supply of ecstasy tablets, cocaine and cannabis.
"He is the latest to be sentenced as part of the Merseyside Police response to Operation Venetic."
EncroChat dealer caught after sending 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.
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 on 15 December to 10 years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.
EncroChat dealers planned to flood Merseyside with Class A drugs
Two Knowsley men were jailed for conspiring to supply and distribute Class A and B drugs in the Merseyside area.
David Pinnington, 39, was arrested at his home in Rushey Hey Road, Kirkby after being identified as the user of the 'loftyhail' handle.
On the same day, David Blackburn, 29, was arrested at his home address of Springvale Close, Kirkby after being identified as the user of the 'super.biking' handle.
Both individuals are believed to have worked together and with others to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin) and Class B drugs (cannabis) across the Merseyside area.
Pinnington and Blackburn pleaded guilty to the drug conspiracy offences.
During a sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court today (Thursday), Pinnington was jailed for nine years and four months and Blackburn was jailed for 11 years.
Encrochat dealer 'Magiccider' busted after posing for photo with cannabis
Nathan Harding, who used the handle 'Magiccider', sold heroin, cocaine and cannabis worth around £1.5million through the encrypted phone network.
The 30-year-old of Maud Street, Toxteth, thought he sent text messages about the drugs sale in secret - but he was brought down after detectives found his fingerprints on a photograph holding cannabis in his hand.
Harding used the Encrochat handle 'Magiccider' between April to May 2020, before the handle was passed over to Craig O’Hare.
Harding then created a new handle called 'Lesserhedge', to continue carrying out his criminal activity.
The pair worked together to supply multi-kilos of cocaine, heroin and cannabis across Merseyside and other parts of the UK.
But they were brought down after detectives discovered text messages where Harding discussed the sale of cocaine and heroin with an estimated wholesale value of £521,000, along with 193 kilos of a cannabis worth around £1 million.
Harding was today jailed for 18 years and five months, while O’Hare was handed six years six months behind bars.
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