Ham sandwich leads police to Blackpool and Fylde drug dealers

Police tracked the drug dealers down after they shared images of a can of lager a ham sandwich on Encrochat

Images of a can of lager and a ham sandwich shared in encrypted messaging system EncroChat helped capture a pair of cocaine dealers, police have said.

Richard Wylie, 36, and Richard Whiteside, 55, were caught after items in photographs were matched to the latter's home in Blackpool.

It was part of Operation Venetic, a UK crackdown on EncroChat.

Wylie, of Thornton-Cleveleys, was jailed for six years while Whiteside was given a four-year jail term.

EncroChat was used by criminals across Europe for a number of years before the network was cracked by police in 2020.

Richard Wylie and Richard Whiteside both pleaded guilty to drug offences

Detectives discovered the drug dealers were the owners of Encrochat handles Somesnail and Peppershirt and matched items in the images of a can of lager and a ham sandwich to Whiteside's home on Mickledon Road.

Wylie, formerly of The Stables, pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to transfer and conceal criminal property and being concerned in supplying Class A drugs to others.

Whiteside admitted conspiracy to transfer and conceal criminal property and possessing criminal property.

Detectives said they still wanted to speak to two other men, aged 40 and 37, as part of the investigation, who were both believed to be abroad.

Det Ch Insp James Edmonds said: "Like many other users of EncroChat, the criminals operating in Lancashire will have mistakenly thought that they could traffic drugs with impunity, under the radar of the police.

"Our successes as part of Op Venetic show how wrong they are," he added.

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