3 people jailed after drugs haul in Wolverhampton
Their illegal dealings came to light through a messaging app
Last updated 14th Nov 2023
Three men have been jailed after Police recovered almost £3 million from a safe house in Wolverhampton which was being used to launder money from drug deals.
Their illegal dealings came to light through a messaging app, which criminals wrongly believed offered them the chance for under-the-radar conversations, which police couldn’t trace. But they were wrong
The men and their illicit activities were uncovered when the encrypted mobile phone network they were using called Encrochat was shut down as part of a huge UK-wide operation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
A complex operation was then conducted by investigators in the West Midlands which resulted in a case against the men, which when presented to the courts earlier this year, saw them each pleading guilty to charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Investigations into the chats uncovered that Darren Percival, under the name Mistaken Mallet, was using a house in Fallings Park as a base to launder money for criminal groups.
The chats showed that the 47-year-old was working with two other men – Alan Britton, using the handle Random Foot and Lee Kennedy, or Betting Toxic – as the money flowed through, being sorted, packed up and re-distributed.
When officers came knocking in May 2020, Percival was found at the house, along with huge amounts of cash scattered around the property.
In a front bedroom there were packs of Scottish, Irish and Sterling currency along with a cash-counting machine and boxes of cash were recovered from a back bedroom, the kitchen and even in a cupboard under the stairs.
In total £2,900,000 was seized and forfeited under the Proceeds of Crime Act – one of the largest seizures ever by West Midlands Police.
Last week (8 Nov) at Wolverhampton Crown Court the men were jailed - Percival, of Deans Road, Wolverhampton, for four years, Britton, aged 50, of no fixed address, for four years and nine months and Kennedy, aged 35, of Coleshaw Road, Manchester was jailed for two years and seven months.
DCI Pete Cooke from the Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: “This safe house was laundering large sums of money for criminal groups but has now been put out of operation.
“The seizure is one the force’s biggest but is just part of our continuing work to bring down drugs operations run by organised crime groups which all too often cause misery for the individuals involved and blight the communities they infiltrate.”