How this cute dog picture foiled an international drug gang

Bob the Frenchie brought his owner and accomplices down with a picture shared on social media - (NCA)

When one drug dealer couldn’t resist sending a cute picture of his French Bulldog to another gangster he had no idea he would be sealing his gang’s fate.

National Crime Agency detectives intercepted a message on a social media platform used by drug gangs and zoomed in on tiny Bob’s nametag.

Upon magnification, they could make out trafficker Danny Brown’s partner’s phone number proving an undeniable link to the dealers looking to send 448kg of amphetamine worth £45m to Australia.

Bob’s accidental role helped unravel his owner’s “sophisticated” plan to hide Class As in the arm of an excavator that led to the entire gang being jailed for a combined 163 years.

Gangsters Stefan Baldauf, 64, and Philip Lawson, 63, had even rigged an auction to ensure the drugs went to the correct customer in Australia.

But Baldauf, of Midhurst Road, Ealing dobbed himself in by sending an accidental selfie on EncroChat, revealing his reflection in a brass door sign.

Cute: Bob the Frenchie played his role in bringing his master down (NCA)

The accidental selfie gave the gig away (NCA)

Baldauf, who was jailed for 28 years in December 2022, was ordered to repay £1,007,637 on Monday at Kingston Crown Court. He has given three months to pay or will receive an extra seven years in jail.

Lawson who arranged a welder to cut the digger open and then seal it up again was sentenced to 23 years and ordered to pay £182,476.

He also has three months to pay with failure resulting in the imposition of another three years on his sentence.

Stefan Baldauf was jailed for 28 years and has had to repay £1million (NCA)

Philip Lawson, 63, was jailed for 23 years and ordered to pay £182,476 (NCA)

Bob’s owner Danny Brown of Kings Hall Road, Bromley, Kent was jailed for 26 years and will face a confiscation hearing later in the year.

William Sartin, 63, of Timberlog Lane, Basildon, Essex who hid the excavator in his industrial unit was sentenced to 23 years.

Chris Hill, who led the NCA investigation, said: “These criminals did not care about the misery and exploitation that the supply of illegal drugs bring to UK and Australian communities.

“All they cared about was money.

“So these proceedings are immensely painful for them, hitting them in their pockets and are a crucial way of showing other organised criminals that the consequences do not end when the prison door slams shut.

“The NCA continues to do everything possible, working at home and abroad, to protect the public from the threat of illegal drugs supply.”