Latest news with #JamieRothwell
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
True crime documentary highlights the case of a jailed Bolton keyworker
A new true crime documentary features the case of a key worker from Bolton who used her pass to transport drugs across Greater Manchester during lockdown- alongside one of the UK most significant organised crime investigations. Channel 4's Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text illustrates Greater Manchester Police's key role in bringing down organised crime. The series highlights bring down Jamie Rothwell, Debra Charlton, and Faruquz Zaman, the latter two who are both from Bolton after the dramatic infiltration of EncroChat – an encrypted communications platform used by organised crime groups across Europe. The breach allowed law enforcement agencies, including GMP, to monitor messages in real time for 74 days, leading to a wave of arrests and convictions of some of GM's most serious organised criminals. The force was at the forefront of this national effort, working closely with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other regional forces as part of Operation Venetic – the UK's response to the EncroChat takedown. At the centre of GMP's investigation was Rothwell, 38, a fugitive drugs kingpin from Salford, who used EncroChat extensively. When the encrypted platform was compromised in April 2020, Rothwell fled the UK and settled in Spain, continuing to orchestrate the importation and distribution of drugs, firearms, and criminal cash from abroad. READ MORE: Bolton pair supplied cocaine and heroin on 'commercial scale' Enchrochat gang boss Jamie Rothwell gets huge jail sentence Bolton, Farnworth and Wigan drugs gangs brought down Despite his attempts to evade justice, detectives were able to monitor his encrypted communications in real time, exposing his command over a sprawling criminal enterprise and his involvement in the trafficking of high-powered weapons, including AK-47 rifles. Rothwell's messages revealed not only the scale of his operation but also the cold efficiency with which he conducted business. He was seen directing the movement of drugs and cash across the UK, arranging the purchase of firearms, and even discussing potential acts of violence. His arrest in Barcelona in May 2020 marked a significant breakthrough in GMP's efforts to dismantle serious organised crime. Another remarkable case highlighted in the wake of the EncroChat breach was that of Charlton, 37, a woman from Bolton who used her key worker pass during lockdown to transport heroin and cocaine across Greater Manchester. She was jailed alongside drugs boss Faruquz Zaman, 46, also of Bolton, who was linked to encrypted messages detailing large-scale drug deals and cash movements. The pair were sentenced for over 26 years combined. Detective Superintendent Joseph Harrop, who has overseen GMP's contribution, said: 'The EncroChat breakthrough gave us an extraordinary opportunity to strike at the heart of organised crime. We saw complex drug supply plots as well as very real threats of extreme violence coming to the streets of Greater Manchester being developed in real time. (Image: GMP) Jamie Rothwell used the notorious Enchrochat messaging service'For the first time, we were able to read messages shortly after they were sent—often within hours. This meant seeing how and where drugs were moved to, how violence was planned, and how criminal networks operated at scale. But with that insight came responsibility. We had to act with care and tact, as well as urgency to protect the public while gathering as much evidence as possible to ensure the strongest outcomes in court. It was truly a unique moment in policing, and our teams rose to the challenge.' The documentary also reveals how others criminals have used the tech to discuss murder plots, torture chambers, and drug shipments with brazen openness, believing their communications were untraceable. GMP's intelligence teams, detectives, and specialist units played a critical role in interpreting this data and turning it into actionable evidence. The Channel 4 series is available to stream now.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Moment UK drug kingpin who ran £26m empire dances for the camera as he's arrested by police in Spain
Watch the moment a leader of a crime gang that ran a £26million drug empire is arrested by Spanish authorities. Footage shared by Greater Manchester Police on Friday (15 August) shows Jamie Rothwell seemingly in good spirits as he is escorted away by officers, performing a dance and smiling mid-arrest. The 38-year-old from Salford, who was the leader of an organised crime gang which trafficked guns into the UK, was tracked down to an apartment in Barcelona where he was detained. Rothwell, 38, of Grindon Avenue, Salford, pleaded guilty to a string of drugs and firearms offences in February. On Thursday (14 August), he was sentenced to 43 years in prison. 'He is not dancing now,' the force said sharing the footage.
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
Moment UK drug kingpin who ran £26m empire dances for the camera as he's arrested by police in Spain
Watch the moment a leader of a crime gang that ran a £26million drug empire is arrested by Spanish authorities. Footage shared by Greater Manchester Police on Friday (15 August) shows Jamie Rothwell seemingly in good spirits as he is escorted away by officers, performing a dance and smiling mid-arrest. The 38-year-old from Salford, who was the leader of an organised crime gang which trafficked guns into the UK, was tracked down to an apartment in Barcelona where he was detained. Rothwell, 38, of Grindon Avenue, Salford, pleaded guilty to a string of drugs and firearms offences in February. On Thursday (14 August), he was sentenced to 43 years in prison. 'He is not dancing now,' the force said sharing the footage.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Fugitive kingpin Jamie Rothwell caught following EncroChat hack
In the spring of 2020, international law enforcement agencies hacked into an encrypted phone network trusted by criminals around the gave detectives access to private conversations between thousands of organised criminals oblivious to the fact that the supposedly uncrackable EncroChat system had been blown wide open for 74 days. Fugitive Jamie Rothwell was among the 60,000 users who put their faith in the instant messaging service to run their underworld exposed his command over a sprawling criminal enterprise and his involvement in the trafficking of high-powered weapons, including AK-47 the comfort of his high-rise apartment overlooking Barcelona, Rothwell was running a multi-million-pound drugs and guns operation."While he lapped up the Spanish sun, his associates carried out his orders and searched the streets of Warrington for those Rothwell had intended to harm," said Det Ch Insp Nick Henderson of Cheshire Police."His actions brought chaos to the local community, leaving innocent members of the public fearful." The messages revealed how Rothwell, now 38, was the catalyst behind a gangland hit where an innocent man was shot. Two days before the shooting, Rothwell and another man discussed Rothwell's wish to find out where Liam Byrne Jr and his father, Liam Byrne Sr, one message, Rothwell stated: "I'm gonna do all them soon", before discussing the use of a specific van as a getaway the evening of 24 April 2020, David Barnes, stepfather of Liam Byrne Jr, was shot in the leg on the doorstep of his home in Warrington by a gunman posing as a pizza delivery other messages, Rothwell discussed his escalating feud with gangland boss Leon Cullen, who at the time had fled to was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2021 for 22-and-a-half admitted conspiracy to supply firearms, conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply cocaine"I've give Leon a way out….he a grass…he turned on me for nothing," Rothwell said in messages on 5 April, just under two weeks before the shooting."Tried kill me….while my daughter there…he my only enemy….when he lands in UK that's when it starts."Other communication revealed how Rothwell advertised and arranged for the purchase and storage of automatic firearms and live ammunition – most notably an AK-47 assault rifle as well as hordes of cocaine and ketamine. Det Sgt Colin Shackleton, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "The supply of Class A drugs in this investigation were on an industrial scale, with the criminal gang making eye-watering profits."They believed they were above the law, and having access to their messages gave us real insight into their arrogant, egotistical, and apathetic nature."In the mistaken belief that EncroChat could not be infiltrated, Rothwell inadvertently sealed his own fate when he shared a photograph of himself posing in a also shared a picture of the panoramic views from his high-rise was the breakthrough that police had been waiting for as they scoured thousands of messages between criminals conducting their day-to-day affairs. Detectives now knew the identity and the location of the man behind the handle "livelong" on was already known to police, with previous convictions for robbery, possession of a weapon and drug was also wanted over a shooting in Salford in he was arrested on 24 May in Barcelona before being extradited back to the UK to face justice. In the middle of June 2020 a service-wide message went out to Encrochat users to alert them that their server had been were advised to delete their chat histories and dispose of their server, which was located in northern France, has since been shut after, nine other men were arrested as part of their involvement in the drugs and firearms went on trial over the shooting in Salford but was acquitted in the summer of 2020. He then fled to the Netherlands before being arrested in a taxi in Amsterdam in December of that year and once again extradited back to the UK. 'Ferocious attack' Rothwell had previously pleaded not guilty to the string of drug and firearms offences and had gone on trial at Manchester Crown Court in July had to be halted and the jury discharged, however, after he was stabbed in a "ferocious attack" in February 2025, Rothwell changed his plea, admitting conspiracies to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life, conspiracies to supply cocaine and ketamine, and two counts of conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm with was sentenced to 43 years - 18 years for the drugs offences, and 25 years for the firearms charges, to be served firearms term includes 21 years in prison with an extra four years on investigating officer Wayne Johns, from the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: "More than 2,200 criminals have been convicted under Operation Venetic, and Jamie Rothwell is one of the most dangerous."Throughout the operation, the NCA and UK police have stopped 200 threats to life, seized over £84m in criminal funds and more than eight tonnes of Class A drugs, recovered 175 firearms and more than 3,500 rounds of ammunition." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Drug kingpin who ran £26m empire brought down by encrypted messages
Standing in the bathroom of his upmarket Barcelona apartment, Jamie Rothwell put two fingers up to the camera and took a photo. He was feeling confident. So convinced was he of the security of the encrypted phone network EncroChat that he shared selfies and pictures of the panoramic view from his Catalonian balcony. From here — more than a thousand miles from his hometown of Salford — he directed a £7 million cocaine conspiracy, alongside trading in heroin, ketamine, firearms and vast sums of cash. What he did not know was that police had hacked the network. 'The LinkedIn of organised crime' For 74 days in 2020, detectives in the UK and Europe had a front-row seat to the inner workings of organised crime. They watched messages fly between top-tier gangsters as they shared everything from pictures of their breakfasts to tips on how to carry out acid attacks, unaware their every word was being read. The operation exposed a criminal subculture where 'sweets' meant bullets, 'pineapples' were more likely to be grenades than pizza toppings, and drugs, guns, violence and intelligence were traded with cold efficiency. 'It was the LinkedIn of organised crime,' Matt Horne, a former gold commander at the National Crime Agency, said. In a recent Channel 4 documentary, he described how his team monitored drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnap and murder — all while trying to decide when to intervene without blowing their cover. Rothwell, 38, using the handle Livelong, was one of the first they identified — thanks to that selfie he sent to a criminal associate — and among the most dangerous to be brought down. He was a familiar name to Greater Manchester police (GMP) from his role in Salford gang wars years earlier and had 16 previous convictions, including for robbery with a firearm in 2003. In between ordering shootings and drug deals, he had paused for reflection. He messaged a fellow gangster, writing: Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson, whose GMP team was at the forefront of the national investigation into EncroChat and helping to monitor Rothwell's messages, said he was sceptical that the gangster was truly wearying of his criminal lifestyle. 'It's absolutely clear he [Rothwell] revelled in the notoriety, the violence, the proceeds of his criminal activity,' he said. 'The amount of harm that was emanating from it was phenomenal.' 'Maybe he's tiring of the consequences now he's been brought to justice,' Jackson added. Orders from abroad This week, Rothwell was sentenced at Manchester crown court to 43 years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of firearms and drug offences. Judge John Potter described how the defendant was a feared boss who expected underlings to carry out his orders, and a grave risk to the public. He was one of several offshore crime bosses exposed by EncroChat, after they orchestrated violence and criminal transactions back in the UK from the safety of hotel rooms and gated apartment complexes overseas. Another was Philip Waugh, who paid a member of a violent street gang to carry out acid attacks on individuals who owed money to him. In one message sent from his Malaga villa he told an accomplice to use a 'double dose' of acid on their target. 'Just need him blind and face melted,' he wrote under the username Aceprospect. Rothwell was also a firearms dealer, boasting of his access to an anti-tank gun, machine guns and hundreds of other weapons. In April 2020, he ordered an attack from Barcelona. Rothwell had become involved in a dispute with a fellow drug boss from Warrington called Leon Cullen, who operated at a lower level in the criminal hierarchy. Cullen had fled to Dubai after police targeted the gang he ran with his brother Anthony — but Rothwell was determined to pursue his associates. When he heard that Liam Byrne Sr and his son Liam Jr were working with Cullen, he organised punishment shootings. Byrne's stepfather David Barnes was home on Poplars Avenue in Orford, a suburb of Warrington, when a gunman posing as a pizza delivery driver turned up on their doorstep. Barnes was shot in the leg as he tried to close the front door and had to undergo several subsequent operations, having become collateral damage to the feud. Rothwell had sought information on the Byrnes from another dealer, saying: 'I'm gonna do all them soon … Get me details i fix these muppets.' He later admitted conspiring to inflict GBH with intent on the father and son, conspiring to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine. Gang warfare Rothwell — described by Judge John Potter as a 'professional criminal' who had spent most of his life involved in serious organised crime — had been involved in a Salford gang dispute which broke out in the mid 2010s. Judge John Potter AVALON Officers believe a series of petty rows and a fight in a backstreet café split the leadership of the 'A Team' gang. Stephen Britton, loyal to Paul Massey, led the A Team faction while Michael Carroll and Jamie Rothwell formed a splinter group known as the 'Anti-A Team'. The rival sides soon began targeting each other with machetes, guns and grenades. During the dispute, in March 2015, Rothwell was shot three times while at a car wash in Manchester. Massey, who launched an abortive attempt to be mayor of Salford, was murdered in a machine gun attack outside his home a few months later. Rothwell was charged in 2020 with serious offences in relation to the A Team gang war but was acquitted following a trial later that year and left the UK. 'Remorse and regret' When police closed in on him in Spain, Rothwell's drug empire was estimated to have a street value of around £26 million. He was arrested and deported back to the UK in 2021 to face trial. Earlier this week Chris Henley KC, in mitigation, told the court how Rothwell was now consumed by 'remorse and regret'. He said the offending took place when Rothwell was in his early thirties, and that he was now a very different man. Henley described the harsh conditions in prison and how his client was stabbed at HMP Manchester last year. Wayne Johns, a senior investigating officer at the National Crime Agency, described Rothwell as 'one of the most dangerous' of the 2,200 criminals to have been convicted under Operation Venetic, the UK branch of the investigation into EncroChat users. The gangster was jailed on Thursday along with nine associates, who were handed a combined total 163 years and 11 months in prison. 'Throughout the operation, the NCA and UK police have stopped 200 threats to life, seized over £84 million in criminal funds and more than eight tonnes of class A drugs, recovered 175 firearms and more than 3,500 rounds of ammunition,' Johns said. 'UK law enforcement will continue doing everything possible to protect the public from serious and organised crime.' Police sources said the EncroChat hack was possibly the biggest breakthrough in British policing since DNA evidence in the mid-1980s. Criminals, however, had found new ways to communicate and the picture, Jackson said, was 'constantly evolving'. 'We do have to play our cards close to our chest in order to stay on the front foot,' he said. 'They've had to move forward, we've moved forward in parallel.' In a separate case also involving Encrochat, 11 members of a drugs gang were jailed in the Netherlands in 2022 for running an 'underworld prison' in shipping containers where they tortured their enemies and rivals. One of the containers was fitted with a dentist's chair, shears, a saw, scalpels and pliers. The criminals communicated via Encrochat, and their messages were discovered in 2020.
