A wholesale drugs trafficker from Whiston was snatched by Spanish police in Madrid as he tried to board a flight to Dubai.
Stuart Farrell 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 between March 20, 2020, and May 4, 2020.
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 on Tuesday, where he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
READ MORE: Faces of eight men jailed for life after hunting down and murdering former boxer
Detective Sergeant Adam Smith, from the Operations Team at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "Farrell was responsible for buying and selling multi kilos of cocaine worth millions of pounds. His conviction today follows his early guilty plea, such is the strength of evidence in these cases.
“Importing drugs causes misery for millions of people, from gang violence and exploitation to drug addiction and low-level criminality committed by those looking to finance their habit.
"I hope this sentencing, along with many other Venetic sentences across the UK, shows that we will stop at nothing until criminals who commit these serious offences are stripped of all their ill gotten gains, and ensure the criminal money is reinvested into our communities.
"If you have any information or concerns about drug supply in your area, which you think might help our investigations into the drugs trade across the North West, then please call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency."
READ NEXT:
Doorman 'snapped' and left racist drinker with serious injuries after vile abuse
Updates as police close off coastal road in both directions
Abusive partner 'laughed incessantly' in court as woman described pain he caused her
