Merseyside man jailed for supplying drugs across the country

A Merseyside man has been jailed for 12 years today (Thursday 15 February) after admitting to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis. 

Joseph Morley, 60, of Elvington Road, Hightown is the latest to be sentenced as part of Operation Venetic - an international operation targeting criminals who used a mobile encryption service to try to evade detection. 

Using the Encrochat handle 'InedibleOsprey', Morley operated his drugs empire out of Spain, arranging the collection and delivery of multi kilos of cocaine and cannabis to all parts of the UK.

Messages recovered from his phone showed that he had access to multi kilos of cocaine, and contained images of drugs parcels being delivered on his behalf.  

Detective Inspector Kelly Wild from the NWROCU's Investigation Team said: 

"This latest conviction under Operation Venetic is the latest in a long line of convictions secured, thanks to the evidence our officers have been able to produce. 

"The evidence against Morley was so overwhelming that he had no coice but to plead guilty to his crimes, so he didn't have to go to trial and potentially face even longer behind bars. My team discovered text messages where he discussed the sale of 10kg of cocaine and 7kg of cannabis worth more than £400,000. 

"I hope this sentence, along with many other venetic sentences shows that crime doesn't pay. We will continue to work with our local police forces and partners across the UK to pursue anyone who breaks the law and seeks to exploit people in our communities to line their own pockets."