A drug trafficker who sent photos of his pet dog to accomplices didn’t realise they would be one of the clues that would lead police to his door.
Danny Brown, 52, sent photos of Bob the dog to co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf, 62, as they worked on a plot to send 448 kilos of the drug MDMA worth £45m to Australia.
National Crime Agency investigators zoomed in on the photo, sent over encrypted communications platform EncroChat, to reveal Brown’s partner’s phone number on Bob’s tag.
Brown and Baldauf also sent accidental selfies over the platform – Brown managed to capture his reflection in a photo of a television while Baldauf was visible in a picture of a brass door sign.
The blunders gave investigators proof the pair were involved in a plan to ship the MDMA to Australia hidden in the arm of an industrial digger after rigging an auction of the digger.
Their plans were almost derailed when other potential buyers registered their interest in the digger.
Another member of the group, Leon Reilly, 50, messaged Brown on EncroChat: “There are six people watching it.”
Brown replied: “F***ing hell, that’s not good is it.”
Drugs were hidden in the arm of a digger
Brown, Baldauf and Reilly were convicted in June at Kingston Crown Court of drugs trafficking with three other men.
They were sentenced on Tuesday. Brown was jailed for 26 years, Baldauf for 28 and Reilly for 24.
The trio and their conspirators plotted in late 2019 and early 2020 to send the drugs, which were 77.5% pure, to Australia where MDMA’s street value is much higher than in the UK.
EncroChat was taken down in 2020, and messages offenders had sent thinking they were hidden from the eyes of law enforcement were sent to investigators.
EncroChat users’ real names did not appear on messages – instead, they all used a ‘handle’ which investigators needed to match to real world suspects.
Bob the dog helped lead investigators to his owner
The pet photos and selfies helped lead investigators to the organised crime group responsible for the digger drug shipment.
Australian Border Force officers X-rayed the digger, removed the drugs, sealed the arm and installed a tracker and listening device before letting it move onto its intended destination – an auction house in Sydney.
Two men from the Australian arm of the organised crime group spent two days looking for the drugs before realising something was wrong, leaving their UK accomplices scrambling to find out who had stolen the drugs.
On 15 June 2020 Brown and Baldauf were arrested together in Putney, south west London. Brown was in possession of his Encro phone and Bob the dog was present for the arrest.
