Four men who believed their secure mobile devices offered them full anonymity discussing the transfer of cash and illicit commodity. have been jailed for a total of 40 years after detectives cracked their identities
Christopher Dean pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine. He was sentenced to twelve years and nine months.
Paul Connelly pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property. He was sentenced to twelve years and nine months.
Cristopher Boylan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was sentenced to eleven years and three months.
Cameron Ruddy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine. He was sentenced to six years.
However, they also shared personal and private details on these chats, including flight details and information about their girlfriends, all of which helped detectives’ piece together the information, and identify who was behind these usernames.
At the time of the conspiracy, Boylan ran a skip hire based on Wallgate in Wigan, and Dean and Connelly were working for a fencing company operating in the same yard.
This location was used as a base on several occasions for meetings and exchanges of large amounts of drugs, and the skip wagons were used to transport hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash.
The money was hidden in shoe boxes and sent abroad. Messages from Boylan to his co-conspirators showed him boasting that this method of transport would not rouse suspicion of police.
As the investigation developed it became clear that each of the men had a role to play in the conspiracy. Dean and Connelly worked side by side to buy and sell drugs on a commercial scale. Dean directed the buying and selling but preferred to keep his distance from the cocaine and encrochat system, while Connelly organised the daily business with customers.
Collectively, they had substantial links to, and influence on, others lower down the chain and were financially rewarded for their role. Owing to their seniority in the hierarchy, they had close links to the original source of the drugs. They also used their shared business premises as a cover for their criminal activities, having cash and drugs pass through the site without raising suspicion to those nearby.
Christopher Dean did not use an encrochat phone to conduct business, rather openly discussed deals on his conventional phone. Throughout the conspiracy period, he is seen to be directing the buying and selling of cocaine and other drugs through Connelly.
Paul Connelly was attributed to the handle ‘wordyjay’, with his messages depicting his involvement of drug exchanges to users. He also, believing this platform to be secure, shared personal details including his age and the birth and weight of his daughter. All of these factors helped police piece together who was hiding behind these anonymous handles conducting their illicit business.
Christopher Boylan was identified as a key player who also organised the buying and selling of drugs. He would order up to 5kgs of cocaine at a time, and he had access to safe houses, and used his legitimate skip yard business as a cover to receive deliveries of drugs. He was attributed to the handle ‘impulsivehound’ for several reasons. Again, he divulged details about his personal relationship, his personal skip business, and his snapchat account, which was linked to his personal email, all of which led detectives straight to Boylan.
Ruddy acted as an assistant, he would process orders of drugs and cash and store commodities ready for onward supply. He provided ‘testers’ to prospective buyers on behalf of his associate in Dubai, to the likes of Boylan. On one occasion, Ruddy took part in arrangements for, and receipt of, 15 kilos of cocaine, estimated to cost well over half a million pounds at street sale value, which was to be distributed into Lancashire.
He provided his vehicle registration and a postcode close to his home address to meet up with the courier via encrochat. The vehicle was registered to him at the time.
Cameron Ruddy was attributed to two handles, ‘apetoast’ and ‘unrealcafe’. Detectives revealed Ruddy was behind these usernames as he sent his personal snapchat account as an identifier, and several people sent messages using his well-known nicknames.
In May 2022, police executed ten warrants at addresses connected with this investigation, and ten individuals were arrested. From across the addresses, police seized large volumes of cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, MDMA, drugs paraphernalia, luxury items like designer clothing, watches, and jewellery, burner phones, debtor lists, and around £40k cash.
Detective Inspector Carla Deighton from Wigan district said: “On the surface, this appeared to be a sophisticated operation. For a period of time, they were able to orchestrate the sale and transfer of large volumes of cash and drugs across the North West, whilst Connelly was overseas in Dubai. However, these men got too comfortable with their encrypted phones. By sharing their personal details with one another, they essentially led us to their doors and helped us build a case strong enough to put them behind bars for a long time.
“The extent of their criminality should not be underestimated; they were making vast profits from this trade. They all owned luxury cars, clothes, jewellery, and had cash lying around their houses. Dean had also done extensive renovations to his property, which we estimated to be worth over £100,000. All of this money was earned at the expense of the community and vulnerable people and drug users.”
