How EncroChat hack led police to £48m drug gang

Organised crime ringleaders Lee McClenaghan and Lea Talbot were jailed for 30 and 23 years respectively

A senior detective said cracking the covert messaging platform EncroChat was pivotal in securing convictions against members of an organised crime group who planned to smuggle £48m worth of cocaine into Europe.

The gang was involved in the plot to smuggle 600kg (94st 6lb) of the Class A drug on a yacht that was being used in a transatlantic sailing race.

The ringleaders - Lee McClenaghan and Lea Talbot, both from Essex - admitted their involvement and were imprisoned for 30 and 23 years respectively on 10 September.

Det Insp Richard Smith, of the Organised Crime Partnership, said the sentences handed to the "highly sophisticated" group were "incredibly significant".

The Organised Crime Partnership is a unit made up of officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Metropolitan Police.

Det Insp Smith, the senior investigating officer in the case, said officers became aware of the group led by McClenaghan, 57, of Stewart Road, Chelmsford, and Talbot, 55, of Godman Road, Chadwell St Mary, in 2019.

The pair had recruited experienced sailor Ian Magee, 68, to take part in an annual transatlantic yacht race from the Caribbean island of St Lucia, to Lagos in Portugal.

Photos of a boat journey with Venezuelan drug cartels were found on Lea Talbot's phone, the National Crime Agency said

Magee, of Fortinbras Way, Chelmsford, purchased a boat which he used in the 2019 race, in what officers believed was a dummy run.

Talbot was sent to meet Venezuelan drug cartel bosses ahead of the 2020 race, the NCA said.

Meanwhile, Magee spent £100,000 on another boat he planned to load with cocaine and enter into the event, which was eventually cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He was sentenced to 20 years behind bars after being convicted of conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class A drug and concealing criminal property.

'In plain sight'

Det Insp Smith said evidence gathered from the EncroChat encrypted phone network, which became obsolete after police cracked into it in 2020, was a "really important part for the prosecution".

The service ran on modified mobile phones using unique servers that could only communicate with each other, he said.

Users would pick handles to remain anonymous, with McClenaghan and Talbot choosing to be known as "catwithninelives" and "legitimateyak".

"It was quite obvious that they were quite happy to talk about really specific details within that chat because they were so confident in its security," he told BBC Essex.

"When we got those historic messages back, it was in plain sight for all to see."

He said officers believed the organised criminals had planned to repeat their mission twice, making it "exceedingly lucrative" for the group.

"Each trip of 600kg of cocaine would've, we believe, given them £24m in profit."

The group also tried to import a total of 676kg (106st 6lb) of cannabis across two shipments from South Africa and Canada, but these were intercepted by Border Force.

Det Insp Smith said the demise of EncroChat had created a "cat and mouse game" for officers.

"[Organised criminals] will move on to another platform," the senior police officer said. "We will continue to do all we can to thwart that."

Five other members of the organised crime group were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court:

• Payment negotiator Daniel Braithwaite, 61, of St Hilda's Mews, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex: Twenty-two years for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of Class A and Class B drugs

• John Campbell, 69, of Willesden Lane, Brent, north-west London: Ten years for 30 counts, mostly relating to forged documents

• Cannabis organiser Kane Ward, 60, of Boyd Close, Upminster, east London: Six years and six months for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug

• Food business operator Sundeep Grewal, 37, of Park View Gardens, Grays, Essex: Forty months for conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug

• Freight forwarder Stephen Persaud, 41, of Church Road, Upminster, east London: Thirty-two months for participating in an organised crime group

Paul Tozer, 61, of Kings Wood Park, Epping, Essex, admitted two counts of conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug at Chelmsford Crown Court in April 2024 and was sentenced to six years imprisonment.

Karl Richter, 52, of Fourth Avenue, Swansea, Wales, is due to be sentenced on 16 October, according to the NCA.