A drug dealer who used an encrypted chat network to bring cocaine and cannabis worth £1.5 million into Norfolk has been jailed.
Ricky Peppercorn, of Salts Road, West Walton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison at King’s Lynn Crown Court on Wednesday after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis and failing to provide a PIN code.
The 36-year-old used the encrypted messaging service EncroChat to operate his supply network, which facilitated the movement of drugs across Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
EncroChat was one of the largest global providers of encrypted communications, promising users anonymity by automatically deleting messages and completely wiping data if anyone tried to hack the device.
However, in 2020, international authorities cracked the encryption, and thousands of messages were passed to police forces across Europe.
Detectives linked the EncroChat handle ‘nextbush’ to Peppercorn and used the recovered messages and images to build a case against him.
Between March and June 2020, he was found to have brought at least 14 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of £1.4 million, and nine kilos of cannabis, worth up to £90,000, into Norfolk.
On June 3, 2021, police carried out a raid at his home, where he broke his phone in half and tried to dispose of SIM cards in the toilet.
Stephen Dodd from Norfolk Constabulary’s serious organised crime unit said: "Like many criminals who had used EncroChat for their illicit dealings, Ricky Peppercorn had been convinced he was operating under the radar.
"He felt safe enough to coordinate the sale and exchange of drugs.
"Little did he know we would be able to view those messages.
"I hope this sentence shows we will continue to pursue those who seek to profit from drugs and the harm they cause and we will use every tool available to disrupt and dismantle serious organised crime gangs."
Share