Drugs baron guilty of importing cocaine

ADRUG kingpin who lived on Smugglers Way has been convicted of running a multi-million pound cocaine importing gang.

Ringleader Helios Nanaj, 37, was found guilty of conspiring to supply controlled Class A drugs and conspiring to import drugs into Gloucestershire.

A trial heard he was prosecuted after data was provided by Operation Venetic – an international investigation which led to the takedown of Encrochat, an encrypted communications platform used by major criminal operations.

The Encrochat devices were meant to be encrypted to protect the messages criminals were sending each other about offending, but law enforcement officials in Europe hacked the service.

In this case, one crucial piece of evidence was the personalised username Nanaj used on his encrypted device.

Adopting the moniker Boboku, Nanaj, pictured, advertised his services as a regional wholesale supplier and importer of cocaine.

The name Boboku, as police were able to prove, was also a nickname he used to affectionately describe his five-year-old son.

Images of his son were also found on his Encrochat device, as well as messages wishing a happy birthday from “the Nanaj family”.

Nanaj, of Smugglers Way in Wandsworth, London, was successfully prosecuted following a rigorous investigation by Gloucestershire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit.

After arrest, Nanaj’s Encrochat device and one of his personal phones were seized and analysed.

Evidence was obtained which proved that both mobile phones would connect to the same cell site closest to his home address in Wandsworth.

After further examination of ANPR cameras, it was proven that the two mobile phones were also connecting to the same cell sites when Nanaj was travelling by car.

On Thursday he was found guilty of four counts of conspiracy to supply a controlled Class A drug and conspiracy to contravene S170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 following a trial at Gloucester Crown Court. He is due to be sentenced on Thursday.

Detective Inspector Matt Phillips, from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “A proactive operation in Gloucestershire led to the local arrest of one of Nanaj’s subordinates and detectives diligently followed the trail of evidence to identify all of those who had benefitted from supplying drugs in the county.

“One of the recovered messages from a phone belonging to Nanaj alluded to the fact he wasn’t sending more drugs from London to Gloucester for a while as it was ‘too hot’ with police activity currently – little did he realise how right he was.”

Ann Hampshire, specialist prosecutor for CPS Southwest, said: “Nanaj was the head of an extensive organised crime group which used a highly sophisticated network to import and distribute in the UK hundreds of kilograms of highly dangerous drugs.”