Twenty-two men jailed after encrypted chat platform being used to supply drugs dismantled

Twenty-two men face a total of more than 200 years in prison after an encrypted chat platform they used to organise and facilitate the supply of industrial amounts of cocaine and heroin across the UK was dismantled.

The men, aged between 26 and 58, were all sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Monday and Tuesday (9 and 10 January) after pleading guilty between April 2021 and August 2022 to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

(From top left to top right) Ramone Anozie, Tanveer Arkate, Michael Breen and Ian Brennan

(From bottom left to bottom right) Reece Dagli, Michael Estrin, Thomas Fitzpatrick and Ashley Forde

 

(From top left to top right) Steven Freakley, Jamie Holms, Nigel Julien and Christian Kelly

(From bottom left to bottom right) Stephen Lees-Rowe, Ashley Lunn, Malachi McLeary and James Morris

 

(From top left to top right) Toby Poole, Mohsin Raja and Ahmed Samankar

(From bottom left to bottom right) Ross Sterland, Ian Townsend and Matthew Whorlow

 

In 2020, a joint operation between UK, French and Dutch authorities led to the takedown of ‘Encrochat’ – a communication service which was found to be used by criminals to plan and coordinate illegal activity. 

Infiltrating access to the platform gave European agencies, including the UK’s National Crime Agency, access to millions of messages and images exchanged between users in relation to criminal activity and led to a massive breakthrough in the fight against serious and organised crime.

Following the dismantle, specialist officers from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) began mounting an extensive investigation which highlighted the vast scale of offending by the 22 men – involving multiple kilos of class A drugs being distributed nationwide, primarily between January and September 2020.

Officers were able to gather evidence which showed three of the defendants, Christian Kelly, James Morris and Michael Estrin, who were based in Cheshire, were responsible for distributing dozens of kilos of cocaine and heroin into a Leicester based organised crime group, centred around Nigel Julien, Ashley Forde, Ross Sterland and Ashley Lunn.

The Cheshire trio were also dealing the drugs to South Yorkshire based Ian Brennan and Ian Townsend.

In Leicester, once the drugs had been delivered, the group would then supply to a number of other Leicestershire dealers, including Ahmed Samankar, Tanveer Arkate, Reece Dagli, Ramone Anozie, Steven Freakley and Mohsin Raja.

Large quantities of class A would also be supplied between the Leicester group and Nottingham based Malachi McLeary. He also sourced commodity from Merseyside and Cheshire via Thomas Fitzpatrick and Michael Breen, as well as supplying to other dealers in the Nottinghamshire area.

Toby Poole, Jamie Holms, Stephen Lees-Rowe and Matthew Whorlow were used as couriers by various members of the groups to dispatch the drugs around the UK.

Following the evidence being gathered, police carried out enforcement operations throughout 2020 and 2021 – arresting the 22 defendants and recovering huge quantities of cash and class A drugs.

During this time Kelly had fled the UK and needed to be extradited from his hideout in Spain.

Details of the 22 defendants and the sentences they each received are outlined below:

• Ramone Anozie, 28, was sentenced to five years and three months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug (cocaine) and failing to provide a PIN code to a seized mobile telephone
• Tanveer Arkate, 34, of Stanhope Street, Leicester, was sentenced to nine years and six months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drugs
• Michael Breen, 58, of Badger Bait, Little Neston, Cheshire, was sentenced to 10 years and four months for one count of conspiracy to supply class A drugs (cocaine and heroin)
• Ian Brennan, 53, of Highridge Close, Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, was sentenced to 10 years and four months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug (cocaine)
• Reece Dagli, 31, of Broadway, Loughborough, Leicestershire, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A controlled drug, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply, possession of a class B drug with intent to supply and possession of criminal property
• Michael Estrin, 47, of Wellfield Place, Wilmslow, Cheshire, was sentenced to 14 years and eight months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Thomas Fitzpatrick, 36, of Caldwell Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for one count of conspiracy to supply class A drugs
• Ashley Forde, 35, of Grass Acres, Leicester, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for two separate counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Steven Freakley, 31, of Dominion Road, Leicester, was sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Jamie Holms, 42, of Rennocks Place, Thringstone, Leicestershire was sentenced to eight years and six months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Nigel Julien, 34, of Holmfield Avenue West, Leicester Forest East, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Christian Kelly, 47, of Hoo Green Lane, Mere, Cheshire, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Stephen Lees-Rowe, 45, of Springhead Court, Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug. This sentence is to run consecutive to a sentence of 13 years 2 months imprisonment that Lees-Rowe received at Harrow Crown Court on 25 March 2022 for further offences of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. The total sentence is therefore now 14 years and eight months imprisonment.  
• Ashley Lunn, 31, of Aikman Avenue, Leicester, was sentenced to 12 years and four months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Malachi McLeary, 38, of Campion Street, Arnold, Nottinghamshire, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment for three counts of conspiracy to supply a class A controlled drug
• James Morris, 49, of Dial Street, Warrington, Cheshire, was sentenced to 16 years and eight months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply class A drugs
• Toby Poole, 44, Padstow Walk, Crawley, West Sussex, was sentenced to six years and eight months for conspiracy to supply a class A drug (cocaine)
• Mohsin Raja, 43, of Chestnut Walk, Crawley, West Sussex, was sentenced to nine years and six months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Ahmed Samankar, 26, of Kashmir Road, Leicester, was sentenced to eight years and one month imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug and one count of failing to provide a PIN code to a seized mobile telephone
• Ross Sterland, 34, of Tudor Road, Leicester, was sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment for two counts of conspiracy to supply a class A drug
• Ian Townsend, 56, of Prince Arthur Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A controlled drug
• Matthew Whorlow, 31, of Moorgreen Drive, Nottingham, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for conspiracy to supply a class A controlled drug. This sentence is to run consecutive to a sentence of 10 years 9 months imprisonment that Whorlow received at Harrow Crown Court on 14 February 2022 for further offences of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. The total sentence is therefore now 11 years and seven months imprisonment.