A Salford drugs dealer who used encryption to hide behind his involvement in a conspiracy to supply drugs with a street value of £13.2 million has been jailed
Christopher Davies aged 38 was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, two counts – one for heroin and one for cocaine and conspiracy to supply class B drugs, namely amphetamine.
GMP launched an investigation into organised crime and the use of encrypted mobile phone software in the commission of offences.
Encrypted mobile phones, called EncroChat, have been utilised by those involved in serious crime for several years as a way of evading law enforcement and the tactics used to access electronic devices.
Davis, under the username of Wavyfire,sent messages that show that between 28 March 2020 and 29 May 2020, Wavyfire was involved in the bulk supply of class A drugs, class B drugs and managing the money obtained though the large-scale supply of illicit drugs.
Detective Constable Dave Prowse, of GMP’s Organised Crime Unit, said: “The people responsible for the lists detailed within EncroChat the drugs supplied were operating on an industrial scale.
“The amount of cocaine alone was more than 20 times the amount sentencing guidelines provides as an indicative quantity for a category 1 offence. The money moved between them and their customers and suppliers topped £1 million.
“Davis presumed his communications were safe by using an encrypted device, but thanks to our officers we were able to use his words against him.”
