Man accused of drugs operation

A JURY has been urged to convict a man accused of running a major drugs operation linked to serious organised crime from his Dundee home.

Prosecutors allege that Aaron Bradford, 35, used the secretive EncroChat network to discuss obtaining and supplying drugs.

The High Court in Dundee heard how police raided the home Bradford rented on Strachan Avenue and found a hydraulic press in the garage and blenders which had traces of cocaine.

Jurors heard claims that packaging linked to blocks of cocaine were also found in a bin in the garage along with a glove containing Bradford’s DNA.

Bradford denies all of the allegations against him. He has incriminated another man who denied being a drugs runner or courier for Bradford.

The raid on the address in June 2020 was linked to Operation Venetic, a European-wide probe that managed to penetrate EncroChat, an underground phone network associated with criminals trading drugs and weapons across the continent.

Communications uncovered in the EncroChat crackdown found numerous messages shared by a user named “El Pazo”, and allegedly linked to a mobile phone used by Bradford.

No significant quantities of drugs or cash were found in the property. The court heard two notebooks consistent with “tick lists” were discovered in the house.

A Land Rover Discovery was also found in the driveway which was registered to the other man but insured by Bradford.

Advocate depute Lindsey Dalziel told the jury: “Aaron Bradford was at the centre of this. You have to ask yourself, was there criminality going on?

“You know there were many items taken out of the house covered in cocaine. Did Aaron Bradford agree to do something? I suggest of course he did and if he was El Pazo, he was never off the phone telling people where to go and what to do.

“Did he know or suspect in doing what he did he was furthering serious organised crime?”

The prosecutor had previously referenced EncroChat messages where the El Pazo profile discusses how they “lost” their van after “chasing a c***”.

This came soon after a van was discovered in a ditch in Dundee with the registered keeper found to be Bradford.

The Crown also presented evidence of Bradford’s links to the phone number through calls to a Dundee taxi company and registration at a vet practice.

“What you are being asked to believe is that this is all just a series of remarkable coincidences,” Ms Dalziel added.

Solicitor advocate Bob Mitchell, defending, told the jury that the forensic evidence against Bradford was “not overwhelming” and urged them to acquit his client.

Bradford, of Strachan Avenue, denies being involved in serious organised crime at his home address between March 31 and June 15 2020 by agreeing with unknown people to use encrypted devices to communicate about obtaining and supplying drugs.

The trial before judge Andrew Miller continues.