Gun and Drug Dealers Busted After Thinking Encryption Made Them Untouchable
Max Williams from Wolverhampton and Daniel Morgan from Birmingham thought they’d cracked the system. Using encrypted chats on the infamous EncroChat, they tried to keep their illegal deals under wraps.
But West Midlands Police had other plans. As part of a major international crackdown, the criminals were unmasked and caught red-handed.
Operation Target Snatches Dangerous Duo
The bust was part of Operation Target, the force’s fight against the region’s most dangerous criminals. The pair believed EncroChat’s secure messaging would let them dodge detection — but European law enforcement had hacked the system in 2020.
Police say Williams acted as a broker in firearms, ammunition, and class A drugs. His messages revealed he dealt in semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons, as well as huge quantities of cocaine, heroin, MDMA, cannabis, and hundreds of suspected ecstasy pills.
Encrypted Chats Reveal Explosive Details
Using the handles Skilledtwig (Williams) and Noisy Jade (Morgan), the pair openly discussed weapons trades and drug deals.
Investigators tied the men to their crimes through cross-checking mobile data, decoded messages, and images from their phones — including a semi-auto pistol traded for £15,000 and a kilo of cocaine stamped ‘Paris’.
The chats frequently referenced drug amounts in kilograms, half, and quarter kilos, confirming vast drug trafficking operations.
Police Share Breakthrough With Regional Crime Unit
Information from the EncroChat hack was shared with the West Midlands’ Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCUWM). The unit uncovered how the criminals sourced their drugs and skimmed profits, or as the pair called it, taking “a drink” off the top.
Williams and Morgan’s arrest sends a strong warning: no encryption service is invincible. Crime bosses thinking they’re beyond the law will always face justice.
