'Italian Stallion' MMA fighter jailed for over 15 years for drugs and firearms offences
Pietro Menga, an MMA fighter known as 'The Italian Stallion', has been sentenced to 15 years and five months in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking and firearms offences. Menga acted as a middleman for an organised crime group, sourcing large quantities of cocaine and firearms, with the drugs' street value estimated between £490,000 and £620,000. His activities were uncovered through Operation Foam, which targeted criminals using the encrypted messaging platform Encrochat.
MMA fighter Pietro Menga traded the cage for a prison cell Friday, receiving a 15-year, five-month sentence for running a lucrative drug and weapons operation through encrypted messages he believed were untraceable.
The 36-year-old Swinton man, who fought professionally as “The Italian Stallion,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and traffic prohibited weapons after investigators cracked the Encrochat network he used under the handle “wirelessshark.” Police estimate the street value of drugs Menga brokered ranged from £490,000 to £620,000.
Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organised Crime Group identified Menga through seemingly innocuous details he shared in thousands of encrypted messages - references to his girlfriend, knee injuries from fighting, and his home gym. The breakthrough came in 2020 when the National Crime Agency infiltrated Encrochat, exposing what investigators described as frank conversations about wholesale drug deals and firearms sales.
Messages revealed Menga’s involvement with an organized crime group responsible for a record-breaking firearms trafficking conspiracy that netted over 200 years in prison sentences for its members. In one exchange, he called Skorpion automatic machine guns a “tastey bit of kit” that are “always good for a rainy day,” noting they came with ammunition. Police arrested him at his Mount Street home on January 15.
The conviction falls under Operation Foam, Greater Manchester Police’s response to the national Encrochat takedown, which has yielded more than 300 arrests and dismantled several organized crime groups. “Menga created his own evidence trail that has led them straight to jail,” Detective Constable Shiels said. “We will continue to target criminals like Menga by thoroughly examining any evidence and carrying out any necessary warrants across Greater Manchester.”
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