Jailed: Faces of Class A drug dealers who used encrypted chat to carry out operation across West Midlands
A group of men who dealt Class A drugs in the West Midlands, including Birmingham, have been jailed.
Ian Breen, Richard Sattar and Dwain Harding were all jailed last week for their parts in a major drugs conspiracy in which they supplied cocaine in substantial amounts.
Breen was identified by officers as part of an investigation into Sattar who had previously been convicted of drug offences.
An investigation by officers from West Midlands Police and West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (WM ROCU) identified the two men communicating on a regular basis and meeting up to discuss moving drugs back and forth.
Breen, who led the group, employed Sattar as a chef.
Sattar's duties involved mixing the cocaine with other substances - this reduced the purity of the drug but massively increased the profit margins.
The investigation led to a series of warrants at Breen's address in Leicestershire, as well as Harding's address in Tyseley, Birmingham in 2021.
At Harding's home, four one-kilo blocks of cocaine were found, with another eight discovered in a car outside.
The group used encrypted secret messaging apps to communicate with each other and arrange their deals, which took place across the West Midlands including in Birmingham and Coventry.
Messages sent by Breen around the start of the Covid pandemic showed his frustration at how lockdown restrictions would affect the ability of his group to traffic drugs.
Throughout his time dealing, Breen preferred his couriers to use pedal bicycles to carry out the exchanges.
All three have been jailed.: Breen, aged 41, of Barwell, Leicestershire was jailed for 22 years and six months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs; Sattar, aged 43, of no fixed address for 13 years and four months and Harding, aged 45, of no fixed address for four years and eight months.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Cooke said: "These men were serious criminals who made a conscious choice to get involved in high-level drug dealing.
"The total value of the drugs they sold and the misery their actions led to cannot truly be counted.
"These strong sentences could only be achieved through the diligence and hard work of the officers involved."
The messaging network has been investigated under Operation Venetic, the National Crime Agency-led UK response to the takedown in 2020 of encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
