10-08-2025
Tales from the encrypt: ‘The Dublin barman who supplied cartel with its secret phones'
Robert Noctor went on the run after being caught with stash on EncroChat devices and cash
Robert Noctor fled Ireland after being caught with a stash of cash and EncroChat devices used by organised crime gangs across Europe.
The encrypted phones, designed to look like an ordinary smart handset, were used to plot murders, drug shipments and money-laundering schemes.
Gardaí believe Noctor was working for Kinahan Cartel-linked Ciaran 'Sam' O'Sullivan, according to recent evidence put before the High Court.
Like O'Sullivan, who sent his daughters to a posh Swiss school, the under-the-radar barman also spent money on educating his son at an expensive boarding school in the UK.
EncroChat devices were used by gangs around the world, including the Kinahan Cartel, until it was shut down after being hacked by police forces
Noctor hasn't returned to Ireland since he was pulled over by gardaí in January 2020 when they found more than €93,000 in a Brown Thomas bag in the boot of his Toyota Yaris.
He claimed to have collected the cash from an unknown man, and he left the loot in the boot of his car and went back to work at a bar on Ormond Quay, Dublin.
He also explained he sold the EncroChat phones for €1,000 each and top-ups every six months for €1,500.
The officer who stopped Noctor's car that evening handed over the money to the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab), along with the encrypted phones and a classic Nokia handset that was being used as a burner phone.
Barman Robert Noctor used the name 'Leftbay' on EncroChat and supplied the devices to criminal gangs
News in 90 seconds - 11th August 2025
In his affidavit evidence, Cab's Chief officer Michael Gubbins said: 'The bank accounts of Robert Noctor have been examined and the €93,390 seized did not come from any bank accounts held in his name and is from an unknown source of funds from unidentified persons.'
It subsequently emerged that Noctor had allegedly been selling the handsets in France, according to court documents there.
Noctor never made any contact with gardaí after the cash was seized and didn't contest a proceeds of crime case against him in 2021, according to sworn evidence.
'Robert Noctor has no criminal convictions, but a review of his Revenue profile indicates he does not have sufficient legitimate means over the course of the preceding years to have accumulated €93,390 in savings.' Read more
His name cropped up again in another case this year against Ciaran 'Sam' O'Sullivan, in which the close link between the men formed part of the evidence.
O'Sullivan was discovered in an apartment with more EncroChat devices when it was searched by gardaí. He was with his then partner, who is Noctor's ex-wife.
At that stage, EncroChat had been successfully hacked by French police in April 2020 and investigators were downloading messages until June that year before the network was shut down.
As a result, a money laundering operation run by a Chinese gang used by O'Sullivan became the focus of a major Garda operation.
O'Sullivan is described as 'known to be involved in the international drugs trade' with convictions in Spain and Holland.
An associate of Christy Kinahan Snr, O'Sullivan was arrested at one stage in Spain along with Bernard Clancy, another senior player in the cartel.
It exposed O'Sullivan's role in selling the encrypted phones through contacts he had made in 20 years of being involved in international drug dealing.
According to Cab, Noctor used the handle 'Leftbay' on EncroChat while O'Sullivan used 'Shamrock'.
The Sunday World previously revealed that French police have identified Noctor as the 'sole' salesman of the phones to French criminals.
'Only one seller seems to be operating in the French territory. He is of Irish descent and does not reside permanently in France,' the document states
'His EncroChat username is 'Leftbay'. He works for the person using the nickname 'Shamrock'.
'We have 413 contacts for Leftbay in relation to the elements captured. Open source research and captured data allow us to identify Leftbay as Noctor, Rob.'
The document also details how Leftbay's phone is associated with the nickname 'silentradio', which French police linked to a chalet in the Haute Savoie rented by O'Sullivan in 2018.
The director of EncroChat Limited, a company based in Hong Kong where some of the funds from sales were transferred, was named as Paul Joseph Krusky, before it was dissolved in 2018.
At the time of the filing, it was revealed that more than 32,000 EncroChat phones had accepted the 'capture tool' sent out via the computer servers French police had taken over.
The millions of messages gleaned from the EncroChat system has led to huge numbers of arrests, drug and cash seizures and successful prosecutions around Europe.
Until the French authorities successfully hacked the system, police investigators had no way of accessing the information on the phones.
