A drug courier who collected huge sums of cash and chased debts was snared after police identified his fingerprints from photos of his hands. Jan Luke Carmichael used the EncroChat handle 'Lemonlager' while working mainly as a courier, but also dealing drugs himself.
The 34-year-old had sent selfies and images of his own hands which detectives used to bring him down. Carmichael, from Merseyside, would routinely move multi-kilo quantities of Class A and B drugs.
He would store imported contraband and then distribute it to customers across Merseyside as required, the Liverpool Echo reports. Merseyside Police's Operation Aquarium showed Carmichael conspiring to supply 14kg of cocaine, 6kg of heroin and 145kg of cannabis in total.
Carmichael was also actively trying to secure an AR15, a fully automatic assault rifle, for onward sale. He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (March 23) after admitting conspiring to possess a firearm without a certificate, conspiring to supply Class A drugs cocaine and heroin), and conspiring to supply Class B drugs cannabis and ketamine.
Carmichael, of Knowsley Lane, Huyton, was sentenced to seven years for drug supply offences, five and a half years for conspiring to possess a firearm for sale or transfer. The sentences will run consecutively for a total of 12 and a half years.
Detective Constable Kevin Mitchell, of Merseyside Police, said: "Carmichael is just the latest person to be brought to justice for their involvement in the widescale peddling of drugs on the streets of Merseyside. What is even more concerning is that he was also convicted of conspiring to possess a fully automatic assault rifle - which we believe he intended to sell on - and clearly had no consideration for whose hands this potentially deadly weapon may end up in or for what purpose it may be used for.
"These people think they are above the law and can continue to ply their illicit trade and profit from their crimes without any repercussions. I am pleased that thanks to the diligence of our officers who carried out a detailed and thorough investigation we managed to secure enough evidence to put him behind bars for a number of years.
"Our work will go on to target other people involved in this type of criminality. I would ask our communities to continue to support us in our efforts to get these people off our streets and behind bars where they belong and encourage anyone who has any information about drug dealing or who is storing or using weapons in their communities to contact us so that we can take positive action.”
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