Two drug dealers linked to one of Britain’s biggest ever law enforcement operations have been jailed for a total of more than 20 years.
Isshaq Khan and his nephew Jan Lee were arrested as part of Operation Venetic, a National Crime Agency investigation into the EncroChat encrypted communications platform, in 2020.
EncroChat was a service provider – since dismantled – which enabled criminals to communicate securely with one another.
But with the help of European law enforcement agencies, users’ data was hacked and shared with police forces across Britain.
This enabled Sussex Police to identify Khan, 30, of Grace Road, Crawley, and Lee, 33, of Percivale Close, Crawley, as both having EncroChat accounts, which they used to openly discuss their criminal activities.
Detective Inspector Jason Vickers, of the Sussex Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “It was clear from just a snapshot of their messages, captured between March and June 2020, that Lee and Khan were running a well-established enterprise, handling hundreds of thousands of pounds and dealing with multi-kilos of cocaine and cannabis.
“This has been a large and complex investigation which resulted in both defendants charged with being concerned in supplying a controlled class A drug (cocaine), being concerned in supplying a controlled class B drug (cannabis) and acquiring criminal property (money laundering).”
Due to the overwhelming evidence against them, both defendants entered guilty pleas and were jailed at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 14 February for 10 years and six months each.
In summing up, the judge said that they both played a leading role as they were directing or organising at a commercial scale and were local wholesale suppliers in the Crawley and wider Sussex area.
Detective Inspector Vickers added: “The length of sentence handed to both defendants shows how this type of criminality will not be tolerated in Sussex or anywhere else for that matter.”
