A gun supplier who used the handle "Maserati Rick" was caught when a secret communication network for criminals was hacked.
Jamaine Salmon, 31, from Manchester, and two other men, also snared the same way, are now facing long prison sentences.
The trio, who conspired together in plots to supply guns and drugs, have now admitted a range of offences.
Salmon had initially denied his crimes but broke down and cried when faced with the evidence against him.
Salmon and Gary Scott Fenton, 43, from Bolton, dealt drugs to customers at wholesale levels in the north west of England
The two men also did business together on Encrochat, the encrypted comms platform taken down in 2020 by international law enforcement.
Salmon sold guns and drugs
Evidence produced by the National Crime Agency as part of Operation Venetic – the UK’s law enforcement response to EncroChat – showed Salmon, who lived in Rochdale Road, near Manchester city centre’s Northern Quarter, and Fenton, of Threadfold Way, Eagley, Bolton, exchanged firearms and cocaine.
The NCA said Salmon, who used the handle Maserati Rick on the platform, communicated with Fenton, known as Rarepalm, to strike various deals.
On April 4th 2020, Fenton asked Salmon if he had “another strap” – slang for gun.
Salmon replied he had one with 30 bullets and their conversation indicated Salmon previously supplied him with a firearm for £7,750.
A week later Salmon sent Fenton a list of guns that were available to buy, including an Uzi submachine gun and a Skorpion machine pistol. Fenton then sent the list onto his contacts
Several weeks later in June, Salmon bought a Skorpion firearm and then sold it to Fenton.
In addition to discussing sourcing heroin, Fenton regularly bought cocaine at around £40,000 a kilo from Salmon, who was previously convicted of conspiring to supply Class A drugs in 2012.
Fenton used Karl Laurence Francomb, 43, to take delivery of the drugs at his home in Cranberry Fold Court, Darwen, Blackburn, Lancs, and hand over the money in exchange.
Salmon and Fenton both also dealt with other criminals.
Between April and June 2020, EncroChat messages showed Salmon dealing heroin, cocaine, mixing agents, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis. In that period Fenton also offered to deal cocaine at around £40,000 at time to other offenders.
On 13 October 2021 the three men – all unemployed - were arrested.
Inside Salmon’s flat, NCA officers found £25,000 in cash and two Rolex watches worth £45,000 – one alone was worth £35,000.
Fenton – previously sentenced to 10 years in jail for drugs offences - threw his iPhone out of his apartment window but it was recovered by officers who also discovered £60,000 in cash inside the flat.
A small bag of cocaine was also found in Francomb’s home when he was arrested.
The three declined to comment in interview but Salmon broke down and cried when faced with the evidence against him.
Fenton and Francomb previously pleaded guilty to three charges each. On Wednesday, at Manchester Crown Court, Salmon also admitted his involvement.
Salmon admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine; possession with intent to supply MDMA, transferring a prohibited firearm (Skorpion), and money laundering (in relation to £25,000 in cash).
Fenton admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, money laundering and purchasing a prohibited weapon.
Francomb admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine and money laundering.
'They are dangerous criminals'
Dean Wallbank, NCA operations manager, said: “These three men are very dangerous offenders who do not care how lethal the commodities they supply are.
“They cared only about making vast sums of money.
“Faced by overwhelming evidence against them they had no option but to plead guilty.
“The NCA works with law enforcement partners at home and abroad to fight firearms and drugs threats, and this case shows how intrinsically linked they are.
“We will continue to do everything we can to protect the public from the harm that individuals such as these cause to society.”
There will be another hearing on 27 January to discuss Salmon’s basis of pleas ahead of sentencing.
Scores of villains are behind bars due to incriminating evidence gleaned form the illegal network. In Greater Manchester alone 150 others have been charged and are awaiting their fate. Yet more arrests are expected in 2022.
The state-sanctioned hacking of a secret computer server in Roubaix, northern France, in April 2020, which was used all over the world to communicate beyond the reach of law enforcement, was the key to breakthrough.
