MANY of the arrests and charges against defendants in the Operation Florence investigation came at least in part thanks to key information which was held on ‘EncroPhones’.

Explaining how much of the key evidence in the case came to light, Judge Philip Parry said that the operation derived from a combination of material – including telephone evidence, the source of which comes from a well-known drugs operation known as operation Venetic.

Operation Venetic resulted in encrypted telephones held by organised crime groups and individuals being analysed by law enforcement agencies across Europe.

Judge Parry said this meant criminals were conducting illicit activities in the belief that their devices were impregnable.

He said: “They were wrong. Because of that mistake criminals who used ‘EncroPhones’ corresponded with fellow criminals on the devices with such openness that law enforcement agencies barley had to decode messages to reveal the extent of criminal activities - largely drug supply operations.

“Each user is assigned a handle and once that handle has been attributed to a suspect, the scale of their involvement in criminal activity becomes clear.

“The value of material deriving from Operation Venetic, particularly in respect of identifying the supply of Class A and Class B drug conspirators in the United Kingdom, cannot be overstated.

“Several of the defendants in this case are being prosecuted as a result of their belief that they could organise their commercial drug dealing undetected by using their phones and they were wrong.”