Man jailed for five years and three months after large scale drug dealing during COVID-19 lockdown
Kane Worthington, a Rochdale man, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for his involvement in an Organised Crime Group (OCG) that supplied Class A and B drugs across Greater Manchester during the COVID-19 lockdown. He acted as a middleman, using encrypted phones under the alias 'loftyrocket' to coordinate drug deals. The investigation was part of Operation Venetic, which disrupted encrypted communications used by criminals. The drugs involved had an estimated street value of £500,000.
Rochdale drug dealer jailed after EncroChat messages expose £500k cocaine and cannabis plot
A Rochdale man who used the encrypted handle ‘loftyrocket’ to arrange half-a-million pounds worth of cocaine and cannabis sales during the first Covid-19 lockdown was sentenced on Friday to five years and three months in prison. Kane Worthington, 34, of Boarshaw Road, acted as the middleman between suppliers and customers for an organised crime group that flooded Greater Manchester with Class A and Class B drugs between March and May 2020.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Worthington messaged 25 different contacts over 58 days, negotiating prices and coordinating drop-offs and pick-ups of 4 kg of cocaine and 16 lb of cannabis. The street value of the drugs was estimated at close to £500,000. Officers cracked the encrypted EncroChat network under the National Crime Agency-led Operation Venetic, allowing them to read Worthington’s conversations and build the case that led to his conviction for conspiracy to supply both Class A and Class B drugs. The 63-month sentence for the Class A conspiracy will run alongside a 36-month term for the Class B offence.
Detective Inspector Richard Castley of Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organised Crime Group said: “Worthington not only dealt drugs but showed utter contempt for public safety during a national pandemic, continuing his criminal enterprise while law-abiding citizens made sacrifices to protect the NHS. This sentence sends a clear message to criminals who think they can operate outside of the law.”
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