Cologne drug dealer sentenced to nine and a half years – EncroChat exposed million-euro ring
A 36-year-old from Cologne was sentenced for international drug trafficking with turnover of ten million euros. He was exposed by the cracked EncroChat system.
EncroChat data implicates Cologne drug ring before Düsseldorf Regional Court
A 36-year-old from Cologne has been sentenced to nine and a half years' imprisonment by the Düsseldorf Regional Court, as t-online reports. The eleventh criminal chamber found him guilty of conducting international drug trafficking between December 2019 and January 2025, generating approximately ten million euros – distributed across 15 individual drug deals. The prosecution had demanded 14 years' imprisonment.
An equally aged accomplice, also from Cologne, received a seven-year sentence. A 35-year-old helper from Leverkusen was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment. In both these cases, the court fell short of the prosecution's demands.
The men's downfall came through the encrypted EncroChat communications system, which they had used to conduct their business. French investigators cracked the system and shared the obtained chat records with authorities across Europe. The Düsseldorf court therefore had extensive documentation of the drug transactions available.
The main defendant's activities extended to Colombia: together with other participants, he is said to have ordered 750 kilograms of cocaine worth approximately 50 million euros there in 2021. The shipment never arrived. In January 2021, the smuggling boat was spotted by the US Coast Guard during transshipment at sea. The crew threw the drugs overboard and fled.
The trial began at the end of November. The verdicts are not yet final.
Source: t-online