A dad-of-two who led a double life as a ‘lynchpin’ of a £40 million drugs conspiracy has been jailed for 23 years. Bolton businessman Irtiza Bashir used Encrochat to concoct elaborate plans to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine and cannabis from Holland to the North West.
Bashir, 46, kept ‘meticulous’ notes on his Encrochat profile ‘Weststreet’, including a proposed import route and plans to hide the drugs in frozen chicken vans , a court heard. There were also references to more than 500kg of heroin, cocaine, and cannabis.
His plans came crashing down when the Encrochat system - used exclusively by members of organised crime groups to plan criminal activities - was hacked by police. He was arrested on December 16 2021 after police raided his luxury home in Chorley New Road, Lostock, as well as his company - Globe Recycling Services, in Haslingden, Lancashire.
