Encrochat: Salford drugs barons jailed over £1m conspiracy
- Published
Jonathan Musgrove and Neema Seifzadeh were caught when a secret phone network was penetrated
Two gangsters who "flooded" Greater Manchester with "ruinous drugs" have been jailed after police took down a secret crime communications network.
Jonathan Musgrove and Neema Seifzadeh, from Salford, were jailed for 16-and-a-half years and six years respectively at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday.
Detectives said the pair were caught after the cracking of the EncroChat encrypted communications platform.
The 27-year-olds admitted conspiracy to supply controlled drugs.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the men were part of a £1m drugs trafficking conspiracy.
Musgrove, of The Quays, and Seifzadeh, of Bury Street, are the latest criminals to be caught by detectives from the force's serious and organised crime group.
The unit was part of the EncroChat investigation - the largest law enforcement operation ever mounted in the UK.
'Wreck lives'
Manchester Crown Court heard how Musgrove - who was previously unknown to police - admitted buying and selling cocaine and ketamine, as well as acting as the intermediary in a firearms conspiracy.
He used EncroChat under the name of 'Big Tyson'.
Seifzadeh - using the alias of 'Grapejuice' - also admitted his role in the conspiracy to supply ketamine.
They were caught after an 18-month investigation and were among the 250-plus arrests made in GMP's strand of the National Crime Agency's Operation Venetic, which penetrated the Encrochat network.
By examining encrypted devices, detectives found Musgrove was routinely dealing cocaine - between April and June 2020 - in multi-kilogram quantities that were couriered across Salford and Greater Manchester.
Both men were arrested on 2 July 2020, with police seizing Rolex watches, designer shoes and accessories, and Apple devices which helped detectives form a picture of the lavish lifestyle the pair were living.
Det Con Dave Moran said: "These two men were responsible for the conspiracy that illicitly profited from flooding the streets of Greater Manchester with ruinous drugs that wreck lives and contribute to the violent crime we sadly so often see in our towns and cities.
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