A man involved in a major drugs trafficking conspiracy was brought down by a mural of UFC star Conor McGregor that was painted on his wall.
Cocaine kingpin Ryan Palin, 36, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply 700kg of cocaine, 15kg of heroin and 40kg of amphetamines at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.
A jury was convinced he was the user of the EncroChat handle 'Titch.com', which detectives had identified after the encrypted phone network was hacked by French and Dutch police, reports The Liverpool Echo.
Palin was identified as the man behind 'Titch.com' by the Conor McGregor mural, painted at his home address in Mereworth, Caldy, after detectives found pictures of it on his EncroChat device. Despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence, Palin still argued he was not the man behind the handle.
His home was raided on Thursday, December 9 last year, where officers found the trappings of a luxury lifestyle including designer clothing worth £136,000 and watches worth £129,000. Pictures released by Merseyside Police show Rolex watches, Balenciaga clothes and Chanel handbags, all of which were seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
According to Merseyside Police, Palin’s arrest formed part of an operation involving European law enforcement agencies working with the National Crime Agency (NCA), and supported across the UK by police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units.
Palin was jailed for 29 years at the conclusion of his trial. Detective Sergeant Graeme Kehoe said: “We welcome the verdict and sentence and now that Ryan Palin is behind bars and can no longer peddle huge amounts of drugs and misery on the streets of Merseyside and beyond.
"Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Palin chose to go to trial. Fortunately the jury saw through his lies and Palin can now consider the consequences of his actions while he serves a significant time in jail.
"Palin’s substantial sentence should serve as a stark warning to anyone involved in this criminality that there are serious consequences. We simply won’t let people live off the profits of criminality while our law-abiding communities work hard to make an honest living - we will find you and bring you to justice.
"Merseyside Police, along with law enforcement agencies across the world, will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of those people who think they are above the law, and we will continue to target anyone involved in serious organised crime to keep this positive momentum going.
"We rely on our local communities to be our eyes and ears as part of these investigations and I would continue to urge people to come forward if they have information which could assist us."
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