Jack Wymer known as 'ItchyTrain' was the latest in a long list of criminals put behind bars for their role in using encrypted mobile phones to transport and sell thousands of pounds of drugs.
Around 60,000 users of EncroChat have been identified worldwide, with about 10,000 of them in the UK – all involved in coordinating and planning the supply and distribution of drugs and weapons, money laundering and other criminal activity. The encrypted phone network was infiltrated by Dutch and French police in early 2020, and since then thousands of criminals across Europe have been arrested and prosecuted.
The UK response to the hack, Operation Venetic, has seen more than 200 drug traffickers and violent enforcers arrested in Merseyside alone. Here are some of the men who have been put behind bars this year.
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Jack Wymer 'ItchyTrain'
Huyton drug dealer Jack Wymer, 29, and his underworld contacts were brought down by a major Cheshire Police operation dubbed Operation Thunderball, into criminals using the encrypted phone network to trade in drugs and firearms.
Detectives found he was the man behind the EncroChat handle 'ItchyTrain', which revealed him to be a high-end dealer selling commercial quantities of cannabis, heroin and cocaine. Messages uncovered from his phone included photos of a kilo block of heroin, wads of cash spread out over a kitchen counter and the burned out remains of a Spanish villa, used to grow cannabis.
He admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine and cannabis, and being concerned in the production of MDMA and amphetamines. He also pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition without a certificate. On April 24, Wymer was jailed for 10 years.
Graham Minards 'Calm Tea'
Graham Minards, from Canella Avenue, Norris Green, used the secret pseudonym "Calm Tea" while trading more than 1,300kg of class A drugs. Described as a "leading player nationally" and being "in the higher echelons" of organised crime, he and his business partner Peter Bradshaw armed themselves with hand grenades and were ready to recruit "lads who blow any c***'s head off" in order to fend off serious threats after falling into large sums of debt.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the two men organised their "very large scale and sophisticated nationwide drugs supply business" via encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
Minards, 37, admitted conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis and on April 12 was jailed for 21 years.
William Davidson and Steven Gorry
William Davidson, 39, and his right-hand man Steven Gorry, 47, were linked to the supply of 108kg of cocaine and 14kg of heroin arranged via the encrypted phone network, which was hacked by French and Dutch crime fighters in 2020.
The pair were collared as part of a North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) investigation into EncroChat accounts using the handles 'WoodenJay, 'RainBonsai' and 'RacyBike'.
The men were involved in the large scale supply of commercial quantities of drugs between March and June, 2020, and also arranged for their product to be cut with adulterants to increase their profits. The drugs were then supplied within Merseyside and across the UK, with significant quantities smuggled to the North East.
Davidson, of Baytree Grove, Melling, and Gorry, of Yew Tree Road, Walton, admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and. On April 6 Davidson was jailed for 18 years and nine months, while Gorry was locked up for 16 years and six months.
Jan Luke Carmichael 'Lemonlager'
Jan Luke Carmichael, 34, of Knowsley Lane, Huyton, was identified by detectives as using the EncroChat handle 'Lemonlager' after sending selfies and images of his own hands from which fingerprint evidence was obtained. Carmichael worked mainly as a courier but also dealt drugs himself. He would routinely move multi-kilo quantities of Class A and B drugs, storing imported contraband and then distributing it to customers as required.
In total, Merseyside Police's Operation Aquarium showed Carmichael conspiring to supply 14kg of cocaine, 6kg of heroin and 145kg of cannabis. Carmichael was actively trying to secure an AR15, a fully automatic assault rifle, for onward sale.
On March 23, the 34-year-old 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.
Lee O'Donnell ‘Scarface Anfield’
Lee O’Donnell, 28, of Mostyn Avenue, Old Roan, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, February 16 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, money laundering and possession of criminal property. O’Donnell used the Encrochat handle "ToxicMantis" from March 2020 to June 2020 and was given the nickname ‘Scarface Anfield’ by other users due to a scar on his face and Anfield being where he used to live.
Officers were able to identify O’Donnell after he revealed his own first name and that he was a hackney cab driver. Officers managed to find out he used his cab to transport drugs during the Covid-19 lockdown.
O’Donnell also bragged on Encrochat about purchasing a television from a specific store and officers were able to find evidence and further details about the transaction. On February 17, he was jailed for nine years at Liverpool Crown Court.
Stuart Farrell 'OutoOut'
Stuart Farrell from Whiston was one of hundreds of organised criminals exposed by the EncroChat encrypted phone network hack in 2020. An investigation revealed he was the man behind the handle "OutoOut", which had been used to trade "multi-kilos" of cocaine.
The 54-year-old fled the country in a bid to avoid arrest, but his luck ran out on October 2, 2021 as he tried to fly to the United Arab Emirates. He was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and locked up at Liverpool Crown Court, where he was sentenced to 17 years in prison, on February 9.
John Hassall 'SwiftHawk'
John Hassall, 53, of Laird Street, Birkenhead has 25 previous convictions, including for burglary, wounding, affray, possession of cannabis, and battery. Hassall’s son, Jon Hassall, 23, of Witley Close, Moreton was sentenced to seven years in prison on February 9, 2022, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis after he sent a selfie using his Encro phone.
On Friday April 29, after pleading guilty to three counts of offering to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis. Hassall was sentenced to 12 and a half years and shook his head when told his sentence.
Richard Weild
Richard Weild, 39, of Mount Pleasant Road, Wallasey, boasted that he could make £30,000 a week and specialised in adulterating cocaine for organised crime groups (OCGs) up and down the country. Weild became known for his expertise in bulking out multi-kilo deals of cocaine with branded labels stamped into the blocks of drugs.
He had a clothing and watch collection worth at least £70,000 and operated under the EncroChat handle of Blacklable. With more than 50 criminal contacts, including some overseas, he managed to supply County Lines drug gangs across the north west and as far afield as Plymouth and Southampton.
Though Weild pleaded guilty more than a year ago, sentencing hearings were repeatedly adjourned after he sacked numerous defence barristers. Earlier this year he appeared in court with a revised basis of plea in which he admitted supplying wholesale quantities of cocaine, but minutes later sacked his barrister and said he wished to change his plea to not guilty. Weeks later he reversed this decision again.
Weild pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court in January 2022 to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, MDMA, 2-CB, cannabis and transferring criminal property. Richard Weild, 39, of Mount Pleasant Road, Wallasey, was jailed for 19 years and six months on March 17.
Kurtis Bolton 'Ladbrookes'
Kurtis Bolton was involved in the supply of more than 23kg of the Class A drug between March 27 and June 5, 2020, but police noted the device had been used as far back as October, 2019. The 26-year-old, of Hoblyn Road, Bidston, appeared to be working for a user with the EncroChat handle 'PoundCake', and had been involved in collecting and transporting around £305,000 in dirty cash as part of the conspiracy.
Bolton was jailed for nine years and eight months on January 31. He will serve half of that time behind bars before being released on licence.
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