A drug supplier who arranged high value deals using a heavily encrypted messaging service has been ordered to pay back £78,000.
Marcus Brookfield was jailed for eight years in March 2022 after investigators found he had been using the EncroChat mobile phone platform to purchase blocks of cocaine worth tens of thousands per kilogram.
The 48-year-old’s offending came to light when law authorities in France and the Netherlands cracked the illegal service, allowing them to capture data from thousands of devices from across Europe that they then shared with the National Crime Agency.
Further investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate established the extent of the offences committed by Brookfield, who went by the alias ‘Cosmic Samurai’.
A review of Brookfield’s finances established he had benefitted by nearly half a million pounds from his criminal conduct and had assets totalling around £78,000 that he had available to pay back. This includes a share of equity in a house, cash and other items seized such as watches and gold coins.
The assets were made subject of a confiscation order at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday 10 February 2023 meaning Brookfield, formerly from Paddock Wood, now has three months to pay the money back or will spend a further year in prison and still have to pay.
Justice
Detective Inspector David Godfrey of the Economic Crime Unit said: ‘Marcus Brookfield may have referred to himself as a samurai but he had a less than fighting chance of keeping the identified assets earned through the harmful sale of class A drugs.
‘This result does not signal the end of our interest in his finances, as the Proceeds of Crime Act allows us to continue to seize any further assets he comes into possession of in the future until the entire half a million pounds he earned is paid back.
‘Drugs ruin people’s lives and Brookfield made a significant amount of money off of their misery. We take a very dim view of such offending and will not hesitate to bring offenders like him to justice.’