Criminals thought the expensive phones allowed them to deal drugs and commit offences with impunity. But over the past few months, dozens of them have faced justice after the messages they thought were secret became very public.
The EncroChat network, described as 'WhatsApp for criminals', was successfully hacked by law enforcement in France and the Netherlands. Over a three month period in 2020, police were able to access messages sent by EncroChat users and gain a never before seen insight into the activities of the criminal underworld.
The messages were then distributed to police in the UK, who acted on crucial intelligence to lock up those responsible. Some have been convicted on the strength of those messages alone.
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In a recent case in Manchester, a judge said EncroChat cases have revealed 'a level of criminality rarely before encountered'. Here are some of the recent cases which reveal how the double lives of criminals were exposed by the EncroChat hack.
'Trusted' courier who complained about having his trainers seized
Known by the EncroChat handle 'The Unit', Cornelius McFadden lived in a 'cramped' house in a state of 'disrepair'. But he was unmasked as a 'trusted' courier linked to huge amounts of cocaine.
Messages recovered from EncroChat linked McFadden to 23 kilos of of the class A drug, as well as a further kilo of heroin. He also handled more than £300,000 for crime bosses.
Despite living in 'constrained' circumstances, McFadden, 47, from Stockport, had a genuine Cartier watch worth £9,450 and numerous pairs of trainers. The shoes were initially thought to be designer, but an investigation revealed they all were counterfeit apart from a genuine pair of Balenciaga trainers worth £700.
After being arrested, McFadden was overheard in a police station telling a friend on the phone that officers had 'taken all my trainers and everything'. Earlier this month McFadden was jailed for eight years.
Dad who worked for 'Big Harry Potter'
Dad-of-two John Heald still went to his day job as he worked in the criminal underworld for an alleged drugs boss known as 'Big Harry Potter'. Heald, who used the EncroChat handle 'Numbkiller', moved drugs and cash around for a crime gang.
He had a cocaine addiction himself and quickly became 'up to his neck' in the operation. The gang dealt in 'very large quantities' of cocaine, cannabis and ketamine throughout Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
Prosecutors said Heald could be linked to 2.2 kilos of cocaine, more than a kilo of cannabis and 17 kilos of ketamine. Heald was described as a 'trusted lieutenant' of Big Harry Potter and was in almost daily contact with him.
He claimed he was being paid between £150 and £200 for each delivery he made. In February, Heald, 34, from Salford, was jailed for seven years and three months.
'Thoroughly good dad' unmasked as major drug dealer
Nathan Loftus was described in court as a 'thoroughly good dad'. But he was unmasked as a major drugs boss involved in importing huge amounts of heroin and cocaine into the UK, as well as being known as a 'go-to man' for people who wanted guns.
EncroChat messages revealed that 'at the very least' he was involved in a plot to import 84.5 kilos of cocaine and 59 kilos of heroin. In messages Loftus also said he'd 'pass out firearms if needed' after being told there was 'friction' on an estate in north Manchester.
Loftus, 38, from Bury, was jailed for 22 years. "No doubt you believed that messaging behind the encryption afforded by your phones meant you were safe from apprehension," Judge Alan Conrad QC said.
"That was not so, and you and many like you face punishment under the law."
Drug dealers who peddled class A drugs via EncroChat
Wythenshawe drug dealers Nico Logan and Jordan Gabriel were locked up on the strength of EncroChat messages. Logan was locked dup for 16 years for his role in cocaine, heroin and cannabis dealing, and Gabriel for 13-and-a-half years for heroin and cannabis plots.
The pair acted as wholesalers of drugs imported into the country, selling them on to those further down the chain. They also sourced a 9mm pistol using the secretive network, and discussed 'sprayers' which could 'kill a family in seconds'.
"They (the police) would not have known about the trade of these two Wythenshawe men but for the revelation of the EncroChat material," prosecutor Andrew Ford told Manchester Crown Court.
In total Logan was linked to more than three kilos of cocaine, just over two kilos of heroin, six kilos of cannabis and also 5,000 ecstasy tablets. Gabriel was linked to 1.6 kilos of cocaine and 2.6 kilos of heroin.
Gang trafficked millions of pounds worth of drugs across UK and Europe
A gang used EncroChat to traffic drugs worth millions including cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis via the internet across the UK and into Europe. A police drugs expert said the 20 kilos of cocaine said to have been dealt by the gang could have been worth up to £2m on the streets, while ketamine estimated to be worth £2m and amphetamine valued at about £300,000 were also said to be linked to the gang.
The gang had 'operated with virtual anonymity' but the EncroChat hack proved to be their downfall. Andrew Moores, a leading member of the gang who lived in a luxury Manchester city centre apartment, was stopped by police after he checked in for a flight bound for Dubai from Manchester in January last year.
Earlier this year he was jailed for 16-and-a-half years. Moores' book-keeper Paul Gregory was locked up for 14 years and four months, while distributor Austin 'Ozzy' Beckett was sentenced to eleven years and three months.
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