A man from a Kent village has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for supplying multi-kilo quantities of cocaine to London gangs.
The offender was investigated by the Organised Crime Partnership (OCP), a joint National Crime Agency (NCA) and Metropolitan Police Service unit.
- Encrypted Activity: Between March and June 2020, he used the EncroChat platform to arrange the supply of three kilos of cocaine to South London, including areas like Stockwell. This activity formed part of the wider Operation Venetic response to the EncroChat platform takedown. His group also supplied a gang known for significant violence involving firearms.
- WhatsApp Trafficking: In 2023, he switched to using WhatsApp, where he was caught orchestrating the large-scale supply of at least 52 kilos of cocaine over just 15 days that June. This evidence was discovered when US border security officers examined his phone upon his arrival at Atlanta Airport.
- Associates and Methods: Messages revealed he paid £3,500 for a hidden compartment to be installed in a drug transport vehicle. One associate, later arrested with 35 kilos of cocaine in Barnet, was subsequently jailed for seven years in 2024.
The Organised Crime Partnership arrested the man in September 2023 and in a search of his home they uncovered an extravagant lifestyle that conflicted sharply with his declared income of only £18,000 per year between 2020 and 2024.
- Officers found designer clothes, high-value electrical goods and several expensive timepieces, including two Rolex watches.
- Despite claiming to be a music producer, he was charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (cocaine).
- He was convicted by a jury at Croydon Crown Court following a two-week trial and sentenced on 21 November.