EncroChat dealers snared at Manchester Airport as they try to board plane to Dubai

A criminal empire has come crashing down after the EncroChat handles the gang used to sell drugs and guns were uncovered by police.

The gang, from Liverpool and Manchester, used the EncroChat network to organise their criminal activities - and to brag about their ill-gotten gains.

In one message, Asim Tufail, who went by the EncroChat handle 'assassinnew', said he hoped to move between £2 million and £4 million pounds a fortnight. In another, Junnaid Tufail, whose EncroChat name was 'babyassassin', shared a picture of a home gym which cost £10,000 to build.

READ MORE: £1.8m cocaine dealer fled prison and spent months on the run

READ MORE: Faces of cruel couple who starved their dog to death

The pair also arranged to supply four 9mm handguns and a Magnum 44 revolver. Some of the messages exchanged between the gang members involved threats of serious violence to recover drug debts believed to be in excess of £3 million.

They were arrested at Manchester airport on January 18 2021, waiting to board a flight to Dubai. When arrested, Asim Tufail was wearing a Rolex watch worth more than £70,000.

A few months after the arrest of the Tufails at Manchester Airport, police discovered Peter Lawler from Liverpool was also part of the conspiracy. He was arrested at his home address and officers seized approximately half a kilo of heroin.

Three of the gang members have been jailed by Manchester Crown Court for a total of 36 years.

Asim Tufail, 52, of Kenmore Road, Northenden was jailed for 23 years for blackmail, conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs, conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and money laundering. Peter Lawler, 53, of Eton Court, Liverpool, was jailed for 4 Years and 4 months for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and participation in activities of an organised crime group. Danny Parmar, 42, of Ashbourne Avenue, Bolton was jailed for 9 years after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons.

Junnaid Tufail, 23, of Kenmore Road, Northenden has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and three counts of conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and will be sentenced at a later date.

The gang's international drug and firearms empire was stopped in its tracks in 2020 as part of Operation Venetic - an international operation targeting criminals who used EncrocChat to evade detection.

After looking through messages exchanged between Encro handles between March and June 2020, detectives were able to prove that Asim Tufail was the owner of "assassinnew," Junnaid Tufail was the owner of "babyassassin," and Danny Parmar was the owner of "viciousswan."

Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Russo from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit Investigation Team said: “This crime group mistakenly thought that they could get away with conducting their criminal business by using the encrypted mobile platform EncroChat – but they were sadly mistaken.

“My officers worked meticulously to identify who the Encro handles belonged to, to ensure the organised crime group were brought to justice.

“We uncovered within the Encrochat data images of firearms he was conspiring to supply which could have caused serious harm and devastation in our community.

“Thankfully, the crime group have now been sentenced for their crimes and will spend a significant period of time in custody.

"I hope this outcome demonstrates that the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit is unrelenting in its pursuit of offenders and that we work tirelessly to proactively investigate serious organised crime, including the use of guns and the supply and distribution of drugs in our region."

The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit tackles serious organised crime across the North West region.

The NWROCU carries out investigations into serious and organised crime on behalf of police forces in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales.

The lead force for NWROCU is Merseyside Police, with the Assistant Chief Constable of NWROCU reporting into Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.

For further information please email nwrocucomms@nwrocu.police.uk

Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here