EncroChat dealer made ecstasy pills shaped like Donald Trump
06.05.2024 - 18:17
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A cocky EncroChat dealer pumped out ecstasy pills shaped like Donald Trump in a secret storage unit.
Jay Roberts, of Nelson Road, Ellesmere Port, who bragged about his success, used the handle 'Ripebrow' on the encrypted messaging network.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, he used EncroChat to buy and sell cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, and cannabis. But the now 31-year-old didn't just buy in drugs - he used a storage unit to make his own using a pill press, the Liverpool Echo reports.
An image taken from a storage unit used by Roberts showed a press covered in blue powder where Roberts would manufacture ecstasy pills to dish out to his customers. The pictures showed he pressed the pills into a variety of shapes and designs, including the logo of courier company UPS and the face of former US president Donald Trump.
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Roberts was undone when detectives from Cheshire's serious and organised crime unit gained access to the EncroChat network after the encrypted messaging service was hacked in April 2020. Analysis of the data showed Roberts discussing the sales of Class A and B drugs between March 2020 and June 2020.
Following the breakthrough, police saw Roberts boasted about how the covid pandemic could prove beneficial to his criminal empire. Messages showed he talked about how the additional restrictions put in place would render other drug dealing competitors out of pocket and unable to access their supply.
Roberts banked on this meaning the market for illegal drugs would increase and he would be able to make even more profit. Roberts used his national upstream suppliers to source large amounts of drugs before then redistributing the