Drug Dealers Busted After Encrypted Phone Sting
Between March and June 2020, Robert Shearmur and Harry Darke ran a lucrative criminal empire, moving kilos of cocaine and ketamine across the UK. Using an encrypted mobile phone, they bought and sold drugs to other dealers, raking in serious cash.
Encrypted Chats Crack the Case
Their secure communication system was cracked by international law enforcement. Details of organised criminals were passed to the National Crime Agency. Detectives from Kent and Essex dug into the data and identified “Basilowl” and “Lizardfoot” as the pair behind the operation.
Messages revealed plans to funnel their drug money into property development—showing they weren’t just street dealers but calculating criminals.
Arrests Uncover More Than Drugs
Shearmur was arrested on 9 November 2021. Police found a compressed block of ketamine in his van. A search of his home uncovered a Taser, pepper spray, and a machete. Darke was nabbed six days later. Docs seized from them showed a joint bank account holding £140,000 in 2021.
Sentenced to Over a Decade Behind Bars
The pair, from Tonbridge and Lower Halstow, were charged with supplying cocaine and ketamine. Investigations showed they traded around 20 kilos of cocaine and 4 kilos of ketamine in just 52 days.
Both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court. On 10 October 2022, Shearmur got 13 years and six months, while Darke was handed 12 years in prison.
Detective Constable Freddie Elpass-Collins said: “These two ran a highly profitable business, supplying huge quantities of drugs to other dealers. They thought they were untouchable using encrypted phones while laundering profits through property.
Their confidence was their downfall. They are now behind bars, and we’ll be using the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover their dirty cash and assets.”
