An award-winning businessman made an 'astonishing' decision to become involved in high-level drug dealing after the pandemic left his finances in jeopardy. Carl Jones, 33, ran a yoga studio, was involved in a gym and had invested £30,000 in a café.
Jones, from Tameside, even won the 'Rising Star Business Award' in 2019. But when the coronavirus pandemic forced his businesses to close he became 'panicked' about his financial situation and mounting debts.
When law enforcement hacked the highly secretive EncroChat network, which had been used by organised crime gangs across Europe, Jones' double life was revealed. Messages from the previously encrypted service disclosed that Jones had been involved in dealing 19 kilos of ketamine, and 10 kilos of cannabis.
