Locked up: Encrochat drug gang that thrived during Covid lockdown

OPERATION BUSTED AFTER MEETING IN CITY CENTRE HOTEL

- AMY WALKER

A DRUGS gang who used vulnerable drug addicts, the Covid lockdown and a city centre hotel to peddle cocaine and heroin across the North West have been jailed.

Discovered through Encrochat, the gang were initially run by Ricci Ferrari, 38, who brokered deals with drugs importers and buyers in the UK.

Helped by right-hand man Anthony Davies, 38, alongside Stuart Shears, 52, the three dealt in over 19 kilos of class-A drugs worth over £1 million.

At Manchester Crown Court, Andrew Ford KC, prosecuting, said the offences came to light following the Europe-wide hack into Encrochat.

Ferrari, using the handle “PlatinumTonic’, was acting as a broker between importers of class A drugs and the ‘domestic customer’.

Over a two-and-a-half-month period, 19 kilos of class-A drugs were dealt, raking in over £1 million.

Running the business from ‘some distance’ he used contacts from Spain and engaged in multi-kilo deals of heroin and cocaine on a regular basis.

Messages uncovered following the interception by authorities showed he had frequent contact with Anthony Davies and Stuart Shears.