A cocaine deal "broker" was unmasked by his criminal contacts wishing him a happy birthday and his malfunctioning Sky TV box.
Mark Edwards and his associates secretly plotted to smuggle drugs through the Mersey Tunnels during lockdown and sourced illicit substances for a dealer known only as "Mr Kipling". His activities saw him netting substantial sums of money, with one business partner alone having owed him more than £100,000 at one stage.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Thursday, that the 43-year-old used the handle "VirtualWine" as he traded on encrypted messaging service EncroChat. But Stephen McNally, prosecuting, described how his secret communications were laid bare when the platform was infiltrated by law enforcement authorities in early 2020.
