EncroChat: Manchester man jailed for £1.6m cocaine smuggling plot

Ibraheem Abdullah had agreed to sell the drugs for £37,500 per kilo on EncroChat

A man who used the secret phone network EncroChat to smuggle cocaine worth £1.6m has been jailed for 12 years.

Ibraheem Abdullah, 38, had hidden drugs in boxes of mobile phone accessories when he was arrested on 17 April 2020.

He had arranged the shipment to be posted from the Netherlands under the EncroChat handle Tenderpasta, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Abdullah was jailed at Manchester Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to import class A drugs.

The plot had been uncovered after detectives infiltrated the communications system as part of Operation Venetic.

He was detained after officers discovered the drugs at a joiners yard on Wade Street, Middleton.

Abdullah, who is also known as Dwaine George, tried to run away when he saw officers arrive at the yard.

He tried to destroy two mobile phones while he was being chased, throwing one against a wall and dropping another in nearby Wince Brook, the NCA said.

Electronic scales and small plastic bags were later recovered during a search of his home on Mariman Drive, Crumpsall, Manchester.

The NCA said Abdullah had used the "crucial" EncroChat phone to arrange the shipment 10 days earlier.

Tenderpasta had exchanged messages with someone using the handle, Maxbro, in which he said the joiner's yard was the best drop off location and sent a photo of it.

The NCA said other messages with Flyinghourse showed Abdullah had agreed to sell the drugs for £37,500 per kilo.

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