A ‘middleman’ drug dealer who used the notorious encryption service to negotiate the price of cocaine for onward supply has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail.
Amar Javed, known on the encrypted platform Encrochat as ‘frostpalm’, spoke to various users about the purchase and resale of wholesale drugs, namely cocaine.
He also spoke on the platform about the quality of the drugs he had because of his international contacts.
Police arrested Javed, 40, of Overstone Road, Luton in March 2021 at Heathrow Airport returning to the country from Pakistan.
He was jailed at Luton Crown Court yesterday (Thursday) to eight and a half years in jail after being pleading guilty to five counts of offering to supply Class A and one count of being concerned in the supply of Class A.
Detective Sergeant Scott Hannam said: “Javed brokered deals for illicit drugs by arranging buyers through his Encrochat contacts. He thought he would get away with it behind the Encrochat platform, but little did he know, we would get him.
“Drugs are at the heart of much of the violence and exploitation we see in the county. By rooting out drug dealers such as Javed, we’re making the county safer and protecting people from harm. Report drug dealers to us and we’ll build up an intelligence picture to ensure they’re put where they belong -behind bars.”
