A drug dealer who was the "money man" in a major EncroChat gang counted and stored up to £800,000 in cash.
Keiren McMahon, 24, was described as a "cashier, banker and paymaster" for his role in the gang, which saw him count huge wads of in cash in relation to the supply of heroin, cocaine and cannabis.
McMahon, who used the EncroChat handle 'Limemace', was caught following analysis of his encrypted Encrochat phone, which showed he had been in possession of up to £250,000 or more at a time.
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He was arrested when he flew into Manchester Airport from Amsterdam after police recovered more than 100 pages of chat logs from his encrypted phone.
Many of the messages were from someone using the handle Centralhuman, who was higher up the chain and was directing McMahon. In one conversation he asked the defendant how much he was currently counting and he told him £250,000.
Centralhuman replied: "Sweet man, put away safe.”
McMahon also had conversations with another member of the gang about them importing their own cocaine and heroin to sell but the other man had trouble raising money for his share.
McMahon was arrested, having avoided police, when he flew into Manchester Airport from Amsterdam but made no comment when interviewed.
Judge David Swinnerton rejected claims he had been naive and said: "I think you were foolish. I think you were greedy and doing it for money."
McMahon, of Titchfield Street, Vauxhall, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply cannabis, both between September 2019 and August last year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that McMahon changed his plea to guilty yesterday on the day his trial was due to begin.
This was on the basis he was “the money man” in relation to not less than 20 kilos of the Class A drugs, mainly cocaine, and not less than 50 kilos of cannabis.
Gerry Baxter, prosecuting, said he also admitted being involved in dealing with 15 kilos of the cannabis.
Jailing McMahon for 12 years seven months, Judge David Swinnerton said that in relation to the cocaine, “It is clear that your principal role was as the money man.
He told the court: “You have been described as cashier, banker, paymaster. You were there primarily receiving the money. People dropped money off, with you counting the money - ‘flicking’ - huge amounts of money, sometimes up to £250,000 or more at a time.
“It totalled £800,000 and you accept at least £600,000 would be to do with the supply of Class A drugs, primarily cocaine but some heroin.
“You pleaded guilty to Class A conspiracy. You knew where that money had come from. You knew it was coming from an Organised Crime Group dealing in Class A as well as Class B drugs and that is evidenced from the messages on the Encrochat telephone you had.”
Judge Swinnerton said that his use of such a mobile phone “was an indication of sophistication in itself".
He said: “You were clearly a very trusted member or employee of the gang because hundreds of pounds was passing through your hands and they were happy for that to pass through your hands.
“I say employee because it is clear you were paid. You would refer to a wage whenever counting substantial sums of money. You were paid £500 for collecting, storing and ultimately distributing that money by giving it to whoever were you told to give it to.
“You were highly trusted and you played an important role within the group or gang….You were in it for the money, you were in it for significant gain and messages suggest you were getting thousands of pounds for counting cash.”
The judge said that as a side line McMahon was involved in a leading role in the supply of cannabis.
He told the court: “You yourself had kilo amounts of cannabis passing through your hands and also dealing with the money from buying and selling cannabis…. 15 kilos passed through your hands.”
He told him, "There is no real distinction between someone storing and distributing drugs and someone storing and distributing the proceeds."
Defence barrister Osman Osman told the court there was a degree of naivety in McMahon’s involvement given his age at the time but the judge said: “I don’t believe you were naive and somewhat blinkered.
“You knew full well what was going on and you wanted to make money and be involved in this world where there is lots of money to be made. There are indications in your messages about you hoping to progress in drug selling at a higher level.”
Mr Osman accepted that McMahon, who has no previous convictions, had willingly chosen to be involved but was acting under the direction of others.
He has been in custody since his arrest in August and has been spending his time well “to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes again.”
A large number of supporters sat in the public gallery during the hearing, though a woman on the verge of tears left before sentencing began after telling McMahon, “I love you.”
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