Three men who conspired to flood the region's streets with heroin and cocaine have been locked up for more than 30 years combined. David Murphy, Aaron Turner and Anthony Farrell were members of a north Manchester organised crime group supplying class A drugs.
Greater Manchester Police uncovered the trio as key members of the group during an investigation which formed part of Operation Praslin, investigating the supply of drugs and money laundering in the North West. Murphy was identified as the head of the group, with Turner in charge of storing the drugs and Farrell being the courier.
They were discovered after sending messages to each other using the ‘Encrochat’ system - a sophisticated encrypted messaging service used in an attempt to evade police detection. Detectives were able to download hundreds of messages between the group, discovering a large scale drugs conspiracy.
