EncroChat drug trafficker used dark web shops called 'Vanilla Surf', 'Staxx' and 'GovUK' to peddle cocaine all over Europe
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA drugs boss set up 'shops' on the dark web named Vanilla Surf, Staxx and GovUK to peddle vast quantities of cocaine across England the rest of Europe.
Andrew Moores, 37, who lived in a luxury Manchester city centre apartment, played a leading role in a gang which trafficked drugs worth millions including cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis via the internet using encrypted EncroChat mobile phones.
The Tameside and Stockport based outfit, which included Moores' book-keeper Paul Gregory, 39, and distributor Austin 'Ozzy' Beckett, 31, 'operated with virtual anonymity', a court heard. READ MORE : Armed cops swoop on car outside Manchester park as two men arrested They all used expensive EncroChat mobile phones, dubbed 'WhatsApp for criminals', as part of a determined effort to avoid detection, and traded in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
But the law enforcement hack of the EncroChat server in France, as well as the work of undercover police officers, brought down the gang.
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