Encrochat messaging app leads detectives to drug dealers

Drug dealers were caught after a secure text messaging service called Encrochat was infiltrated by French detectives.

Criminal groups around the world believed it was impenetrable by the police and intelligence agencies, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

However, conversations about the supply of heroin to Swansea were intercepted.

Chris Hodge, 27, from Cardiff, was sentenced to 12 years and Elijah King, 35, from Kent, six years and nine months for the supply of Class A drugs.

King had admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine while Hodge was found guilty after a trial of the same offences.

Using special mobile phones costing about £1,500, the men believed they would not be caught, and even used the app to send photographs of heroin and cocaine on weighing scales.

Prosecution barrister Tim Evans said unlocking the app used by thousands of organised criminals around the world had resulted in "outright criminality being laid bare" and he said a wall of secrecy had been breached when French law enforcement agencies hacked into Encrochat last year.

Intelligence on UK criminals who had used the app was passed to the National Crime Agency which launched Operation Venetic.

More than 700 arrests have since been made and millions of pounds of drugs and money recovered, the court heard.

South Wales Police used the information to launch Operation Harlech.

From March until July 2020, hundreds of messages passed between King and Hodge, shining a light on the day to day life of drug dealers, the court heard.

They talked about meeting couriers, describing what they were wearing for meetings, there were messages asking about "white" - street slang for cocaine - or if heroin, known as "brown", was required.

The pair even discussed what kind of vehicle would be best to transport the drugs without attracting attention during the first lockdown.

The court was told they were part of a wholesale drug supply business.

Sentencing King, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the acting Recorder of Cardiff, said: "You were more than just a courier, you were an important part of the supply chain, an important part of the conspiracy."

King had no previous convictions. He claimed he had been forced into supplying drugs because he was gay and his family did not know, with Hodge threatening to tell them.

But there was no evidence of threats on any of the hundreds of encrypted text messages which were shared by the pair.

Hodge had a string of previous convictions including possession and supply of heroin, crack cocaine and MDMA.

Judge Lloyd-Clarke told both men the use of the Encrochat app had been an aggravating factor in their sentencing.