A drug smuggler’s £45 million operation was busted after he sent a photo of his dog to a friend.
Danny Brown, 55, shared the picture of his French bulldog Bob with crime accomplice Stefan Baldauf, 62, on the app EncroChat.
Bob’s collar had Brown’s girlfriend’s phone number on it, which investigators used to prove his involvement in a plot to traffic 448 kilograms of MDMA to Australia.
The pair were going to use a digger to hide the drugs in its scoop arm.
They had even put the excavator up for sale online in an attempt to make everything look legitimate.
Speaking about Australian buyers registering their interest in the digger, co-conspirator Leon Reilly, 50, told Brown: ‘There are six people watching it.’
Brown replied: ‘F***ing hell, that’s not good is it.’
Baldauf had also sent Brown a picture of a brass door sign with his face visible in the reflection. Another photo showed Brown’s reflection in a TV.
All these messages helped police arrest all three men on June 15, 2020. Bob was by Brown’s side when officers took him away.
The group repeatedly tried to get the case kicked out of court, arguing the EncroChat evidence was inadmissible.
EncroChat was a communication network which allowed people – mainly criminals – to modify their smartphones so that all messages were encrypted.
It was taken down in 2020 after the National Crime Agency (NCA) launched Operation Venetic.
Brown, of Bromley, Kent, Baldauf, of Ealing, west London, and Reilly, Co Cork, Ireland, were convicted of drug trafficking with three other men at Kingston Crown Court.
Brown was jailed for 26 years, Baldauf for 28 years and Reilly for 24 years.
NCA operations manager Chris Hill said: ‘These men thought they were safe on EncroChat but my officers did a superb and painstaking job of building the evidence against them through a mixture of traditional and modern detective skills.
‘Brown and Baldauf’s accidental selfies and the photo of Bob the dog were the cherry on the cake in proving who was operating those handles.’
Three other men, 44-year-old Tony Borg, of Basildon, Essex, 61-year-old Philip Lawson, of Staines-upon-Thames, and 59-year-old Peter Murray were also convicted of involvement.
Lawson was sentenced to 23 years, Murray to 24 and Borg to 15.
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