A major Kent-based drug dealer has been slammed behind bars after cops busted his encrypted phone chats. Gareth Harnett, 43, was caught running a huge cannabis and cocaine racket worth £92,000.
Encrypted Chats Blow His Cover
Harnett’s secret messages were intercepted through the takedown of EncroChat – a slick encrypted messaging service used by criminals to dodge law enforcement.
International police cracked EncroChat in spring 2020, handing decrypted data to Kent Police. Harnett, who used the alias ‘Zanyenergy’, was soon identified as a key player in drug deals across Ramsgate, Canterbury, and beyond.
Photos, Postcodes & Pounds: The Evidence Stack Up
The undercover messages showed Harnett locking in drug prices, sharing photos of kilos of cannabis and planning cash handovers at various locations.
- Cannabis went for £4,500 to £4,750 per kilo.
- He organised supply runs to ‘workers’ who then pushed the drugs on locally.
- The operation spanned just a few months, March to June 2020, but dealt out tens of thousands in drug sales.
Caught In Newcastle, Sentenced In Canterbury
December 2024 saw Harnett snapped up by police in Newcastle, where he’d relocated. At Canterbury Crown Court on February 13, 2026, he pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis.
He was sentenced to a four-and-a-half year jail sentence.
“It was clear from his encrypted messages that Gareth Harnett played an integral role in the supply of illegal drugs,” said Detective Constable Aaron Chapman.
“The compelling evidence left him no option but to admit guilt.”
