Ten years jail for drug-empire boss who lived lavish designer lifestyle

A drug importer, who dealt in kilogrammes of cocaine and ketamine, splashed his wealth on cars and expensive watches.

- by Nick Frame

Timothy Meerun was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week for a lengthy list of crimes, while his girlfriend escaped with a community order.

Meerun was using the EncroChat network to communicate with others about his drug empire - a once-encrypted system that police were able to hack into secretly in 2020 and expose organised criminals.

The court heard that from 2018 the 35-year-old was dealing in multiple quantities of drugs. They included chats about taking delivery of four kilogrammes of cocaine and 22 kilogrammes of ketamine.

Following an investigation, in 2021 officers executed warrants on several addresses across Leeds and safety deposit boxes in his mother's name.

Meerun was arrested from an address in Holt Park Way where they found expensive watches and mobile phones.