Latest news with #RobertNoctor
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
Gardai target high-level Irish mobs after combing five years of EncroChat data
The revelation was made by Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland, who is the head of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), in an interview with the Sunday World. Left, Robert Noctor allegedly supplied criminals with encrypted phones; Kinahan cartel mobsters Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh and Liam Byrne were jailed after their plans on EncroChat were intercepted Gardaí are pursuing a number of investigations against 'high-level targets in Ireland' as part of the 2020 EncroChat takedown by French law enforcement, it has emerged. The revelation was made by Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland, who is the head of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), in an interview with the Sunday World. It is understood that many Irish criminals used the EncroChat encrypted platform, which was hacked by French police who worked with their British and Dutch counterparts for over two months. By compromising the network, police could watch all messages, images, and videos that were sent over the system – all unknown to the criminals between early April 2020 and June 13 of that year. All this data was saved and has resulted in thousands of organised crime prosecutions worldwide to date, with the 'hope' that prosecutions can now happen here in Ireland. An EncroChat phone looked like any other phone, but there was a second display that could be accessed by a few button clicks that brought the user into the EncroChat system. Before the hack, police had no way of accessing the information on the phones More than 32,000 EncroChat phones had accepted the 'capture tool' or 'booby trap' sent out through the computer servers that French police had taken over. Until the French authorities successfully hacked the system, police had no way of accessing the information on the phones. While gardaí were not included in the initial and highly significant EncroChat investigation, Det Chief Supt Boland said gardaí have now been 'officially and legally' given the relevant data from the hack on Irish criminals that disrupted organised crime across the globe. Left, Robert Noctor allegedly supplied criminals with encrypted phones; Kinahan cartel mobsters Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh and Liam Byrne were jailed after their plans on EncroChat were intercepted News in 90 Seconds - August 16th 'From an investigators' perspective here in the DOCB, we are pursuing a number of investigations at the moment where we would hope to use data that was recovered from the EncroChat takedown in a criminal prosecution,' he said. Gardaí have previously been reluctant to discuss their plans in relation to the EncroChat takedown, as opposed to their involvement in infiltrating the separate Ghost encrypted platform last September, in which the west Dublin 'Family' gang were one of the main targets. Detective Chief Superintendent Seamus Boland said the EncroChat data is being examined. Photo: Collins Last March, 12 arrests were made here, including leaders in 'The Family' gang, and Spain as part of that investigation. While Det Chief Supt Boland said more arrests are expected as part of the Ghost probe, a huge amount of data from EncroChat is now being analysed over five years after the platform was first compromised by police and then disbanded. 'We are pursuing a number of those investigations at the moment – we as investigators were not involved in it (EncroChat),' he said. 'We are gathering the necessary evidential requirements in an effort to use the data because I think that would be extremely important. But the investigators in DOCB were not involved in that investigation when it was live and ongoing. 'We are looking at that data, we are considering it and gathering it in the legal capacity so that we hopefully use it in criminal prosecutions in Ireland. We would hope to have some very significant successes.' However, Det Chief Supt Boland also said it 'will not be easy' and 'quite complex' because of different legal systems within European countries, but expressed confidence in DOCB investigators who are compiling the investigation files in relation to EncroChat and Ireland. Senior Kinahan cartel gangsters Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh and Liam Byrne were given jail sentences in England last year for a bizarre firearms plot that English police became aware of after the criminals discussed plans on EncroChat. Officers found more than €93,000 in a Brown Thomas bag in the boot of his Toyota Yaris And gardaí have identified a Dublin barman who allegedly became a key player in supplying gangsters with encrypted phones in Ireland and France. Robert Noctor, with an address in Clontarf, fled Ireland after being caught with a stash of cash and EncroChat devices used by organised crime gangs across Europe, according to recent evidence put before the High Court in a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) case. Noctor hasn't returned to Ireland since he was stopped by gardaí in Artane in January 2020. Officers found more than €93,000 in a Brown Thomas bag in the boot of his Toyota Yaris, as well as three BQ Aquarius mobile phones that CAB said were EncroChat devices. He told gardaí that he sold the EncroChat phones for €1,000 each and top-ups every six months for €1,500 before the devices and cash were seized from him – three months before the system was compromised by French police. It then emerged that Noctor had allegedly been selling the handsets in France, according to court documents there. The cash and the three Encrochat-enabled phones were deemed the proceeds of crime.
Sunday World
10-08-2025
- Sunday World
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.
