Cocaine trafficker, 28, who was caught by police after moaning on encrypted phone network Encrochat about how Covid lockdown was affecting his international drug dealing business is jailed for 16 years
- Nico Logan and Jordan Gabriel operated a drugs gang in Greater Manchester
- The pair used the encrypted EncroChat phone network to communicate
- Criminals used the encrypted phone network believing it was entirely secure
- European police forces cracked the code leading to arrests across the continent
A cocaine trafficker has been jailed for 16 years after police caught him moaning about his drugs empire being curtailed – by UK lockdown rules.
Nico Logan, 28, sent messages on the encrypted communications network Encrochat whining he could not strike face-to-face deals with smugglers in Spain as all non-essential flights out of the UK had been banned due to Covid restrictions.
He also said he had debts of £26,000 as a result of the rules and he had to recruit a woman working as a ‘key worker’ to drop off consignments of cocaine, heroin and Ecstasy because of him ‘working from home.’
In one message to an associate, Logan, from Wythenshawe, Manchester who was using the codename ‘Fruity Kecks’ grumbled: ‘I really need this pandemic to be over so I can go to Spain to arrange meetings myself. At least I have a bird who is a key worker and she will drop stuff off for 150 or 200.’
Detectives found the messages after accessing the network and arrested Logan and an accomplice during a major police operation.
Nico Logan, left, was jailed for 16 years after admitting conspiracy to possess a gun and supplying Class A and Class B drugs. His associate, Jordan Gabriel, 29, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, right, was jailed for 13-and-a-half years after admitting similar offences
Police uncovered this photograph of Logan’s stash of cash in a car which was used to facilitate his illicit business. It was on his EncroChat encrypted handset
It emerged he had acted as a ‘broker’ or ‘wholesaler’ for drug gangs based in Spain and would distribute the narcotics through a network of street dealers. He also placed an orders for a 9mm handgun and ammunition to ‘bolster his credibility’ and had a price list for automatic weapons.
At Manchester Crown Court, Logan admitted conspiracy to possess a prohibited firearm and being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B drugs. Jordan Gabriel, 29, also of Wythenshawe, was jailed for 13 and a half years after he admitted similar offences.
The investigation began after the network the two men used was infiltrated in 2020 shortly after lockdown began in March last year.
The court heard the gang also acquired a 9mm pistol and ammunition to ‘bolster their credibilty’.
Before his arrest, Logan had arranged 3.18kg of cocaine, 2kg of heroin, 5,000 Ecstasy tablets and 6kg of cannabis to be smuggled into the UK.
The gang used the encrypted encro phone system believing their communication network was safe from interception.
Police discovered this cocaine during raids on properties associated with the drugs gang. Police recovered this photograph from Logan’s encrypted handset
Police recovered his image of a bullet on Logan’s phone during a raid on his home
Logan also also had a price list for an AK47 and Uzi sub machine gun and there was contact with a Encrochat about obtaining a Glock pistol and 13 bullets for £9,000 and test firing a Smith and Wesson revolver.
There was a further conversation about ‘sprayers’ and two of them said they could ‘kill a family in seconds’ and ‘controlling the stakes of running a drug line on estates.’
Following analysis of the messages police executed five warrants across Warrington and Manchester. Logan and Gabriel were arrested and jewellery worth over £20,000 was seized.
In 2009 Logan was locked up for five years for a gems robbery and in 2015 was given a further six years and nine months for conspiracy to burgle after leading a gang which targeted shops and garages across Cumbria, County Durham and North Wales during a £100,000 theft spree.
Judge Ian Dove told both men: ‘Controlled drugs are a cancer in our society. They destroy the lives of people who become enslaved to their addiction. They recruit young people into criminality and they impact the wider community through crime and anti-social behaviour. We all live our day to day lives with these truths and they are all evident around us. The misery caused by people like you feed that cancer at the heart of our society.’
Detective Constable Andrew Moore of Greater Manchester Police said: ”Logan and Gabriel thought they were above the law and could keep police from discovering their illicit activities by using encrypted messages to communicate.
‘Since the breakthrough of the Encrochat system police have been able to disrupt numerous Organised Crime Groups and stop criminal activity from harming our communities.
‘This sentencing is another positive step towards preventing organised crime and I hope it reassures our communities that we are committed to adapting and using innovative techniques to tackle this type of crime and the advances in criminal technology.’
What was EncroChat?
EncroChat was one of the largest providers of encrypted communications and offered a secure mobile phone instant messaging service, but an international law enforcement team cracked the company’s encryption.
There were 60,000 users worldwide and around 10,000 users in the UK – the sole use was for coordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals.
Since 2016, the National Crime Agency has been working with international law enforcement agencies to target EncroChat and other encrypted criminal communication platforms by sharing technical expertise and intelligence.
In 2020 this collaboration resulted in partners in France and the Netherlands infiltrating the platform. The data harvested was shared via Europol.
Unbeknown to users the NCA and the police have been monitoring their every move since then under Operation Venetic – the UK law enforcement response.
Simultaneously, European law enforcement agencies have also been targeting organised crime groups.
The EncroChat servers have now been shut down.
Organised crime groups in the UK have been using EncroChat, communicating freely believing the technology made them secure. The criminal group behind EncroChat operated from outside the UK.
On June 13, 2020, EncroChat realised the platform had been penetrated and sent a message to its users urging them to throw away their handsets.
The phones – which have pre-loaded apps for instant messaging, the ability to make VOIP calls and a kill code which wipes them remotely – have no other conventional smart phone functionality and cost around £1,500 for a six-month contract.
SOURCE: NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY
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