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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Jonathan Humphries

EncroChat drug runner 'Ladbrookes' given away when contact calls him 'Kurt'

Detectives worked out the identity of a multi-kilo cocaine trafficker using the EncroChat handle 'Ladbrookes' when a contact gave away his name in a message.

Kurtis Bolton was involved in the supply of more than 23kg of the Class A drug between March 27 and June 5, 2020, but police noted the device had been used as far back as October, 2019. Liverpool Crown Court heard detectives poring over the messages recovered when the EncroChat service was hacked in early 2020 got a break when personal information was shared by Bolton and his associates.

The 26-year-old, of Hoblyn Road, Bidston, appeared to be working for a user with the EncroChat handle 'PoundCake', and had been involved in collecting and transporting around £305,000 in dirty cash as part of the conspiracy.

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