A drugs boss caught in Amsterdam was dragged back home to face justice after spending 15 months on the run. Fugitive Francis McAnulty, 27, fled the country as police were about to pounce on him in his native Salford, when he had around £35,000 in cash and tens of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine stashed in his van.
He narrowly managed to avoid the law following a car chase and headed for the European mainland in a bid to evade the consequences of his crimes. But after being caught in the Dutch capital, McAnulty was flown back to the UK and has finally faced justice, after being handed a 12 year jail term.
Manchester Crown Court heard how McAnulty was the latest dealer to fall foul of the law enforcement hack of EncroChat, a highly encrypted network often dubbed 'WhatsApp for criminals'. He hid behind an apparent cloak of anonymity using the handles 'Noisy Bear', 'Eastern Killer' and 'Shapely Toast' on the communications platform.
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But his messages would later come back to haunt him when European law enforcement cracked the encryption and handed the data to police forces across the UK under Operation Venetic. The information gleaned from EncroChat revealed that McAnulty had been brokering drug huge deals and was involved with vast sums of money.
McAnulty was linked to at least 31 kilos of cocaine, three kilos of heroin, one kilo of ketamine and 25 kilos of cannabis, prosecutor Alexandra Sutton said. He also paid another man to store drugs on his behalf and adulterate them.
He employed 'sophisticated' methods and discussed using encrypted laptops, the court was told, and was 'close' to other criminals behind the importation of drugs into the country. When those behind the EncroChat network revealed the system had been compromised in June 2020, McAnulty ditched his device.
But the security breach did not put McAnulty off drug dealing. In November 2021, police spotted him in Salford driving a van, which contained a purpose built hide. It contained five kilo blocks of cocaine as well as about £35,000 in cash.
McAnulty was able to escape officers who gave chase on Cross Lane in Salford, driving dangerously, damaging a police car and mounting the kerb. The van was found abandoned and the drugs and cash were seized. Within the van officers also found two passports, one which showed McAnulty's picture but under a false name.
He fled the country and was only caught in February. He was then extradited back to the UK to face the music.
McAnulty's barrister Daniel Travers said that the defendant had previously been involved in legitimate work and was a 'valued' employee. He said McAnulty's jail sentence would have a 'devastating' impact on his family, partner and his children. The judge, Recorder Phil Barnes, told McAnulty: "Those who trade in drugs must know and expect they will face severe penalties if they are caught."
McAnulty, of James Henry Avenue, Ordsall, Salford, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to supply class A drugs, two counts of conspiring to supply class B drugs, two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, and possession of criminal property. He will serve half of his sentence in prison.
After the hearing, Detective Inspector Chris Horsfield, from Salford’s Challenger organised crime team, said: "Sifting through McAnulty’s Encrochat messages revealed his clear involvement in high-level drug conspiracies. He was in contact with multiple suppliers and customers on a daily basis and arranging the sale of drugs that were being imported from other countries so he could make a substantial yet illegal profit despite the harm they cause to vulnerable people within our community.
"McAnulty, like many criminals before him, thought he was hiding behind a secure communications system. Instead, he was creating his own evidence of organised crime that led him straight to prison."
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