How it started: A drug dealer sent his co-conspirator a photo of his new puppy wearing a collar that prominently displayed a phone number. How it ended: Authorities sniffed out a major international drug ring.
Authorities were able to sniff out a major international drug ring when one of the dealers sent a photo through an encrypted messaging app of his new puppy wearing a collar that prominently displayed a phone number.
The big break came, the British Crown Prosecution Service said, when one of the dealers, Danny Brown, 55, sent another of his co-conspirators a photo of his new French bulldog puppy, Bob, through the now defunct app, EncroChat, once a popular platform for criminals. Brown and five of his co-conspirators, Stefan Baldauf, 62, Tony Borg, 45, Peter Murray, 59, Philip Lawson, 61, and Leon Reilly, 50, were sentenced Tuesday in England to terms ranging from 15-to-28 years, officials said. Attorneys for the men couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
When the excavator arrived in Australia, customs officials removed the drugs and let the machine be picked up by the dealers in Australia. Authorities in England then watched as the dealers in Australia spent several days taking the excavator apart and messaging back and forth with their conspirators in the UK about how they couldn’t find the drugs.
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