Formby man arrested for drugs supply as part of EncroChat investigations

A 38 year-old Formby man has been charged as part of Class A and B drugs conspiracy,

Terence Page, of Old Mill Lane, Formby, was charged with conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs and conspiring to acquire/possess criminal property.

Page was remanded into custody to appear at Wirral adult remand court today, Friday 4th June.

The charge forms another part of the Merseyside Police response to Operation Venetic: the national investigation into the use of encrypted mobile devices, commonly referred to as EncroChat.

EncroChat was one of the largest providers of encrypted communications and offered a secure mobile phone instant messaging service, but an international law enforcement team cracked the company’s encryption.

There were 60,000 users worldwide and around 10,000 users in the UK – the sole use was for coordinating and planning the distribution of illicit commodities, money laundering and plotting to kill rival criminals.

Since 2016, the National Crime Agency has been working with international law enforcement agencies to target EncroChat and other encrypted criminal communication platforms by sharing technical expertise and intelligence.