Carl Stewart was thrilled to find a mold of Blue Stilton cheese in a high-end British grocery store.
He put this richly sweet, creamy cheese in the palm of his hand and immediately took a picture of it and shared it on an encrypted messaging app, mostly used by drug dealers.
What Stewart, 39, wasn't aware of was that the moment he shared that photo, he was turning himself in to police.
British police, who had already infiltrated the app, managed to identify the owner of another account that coordinated the sale of cocaine, heroin and other drugs by removing a fingerprint from Stewart's fingers in the photo he shared. Merseyside Police Chief Detective Constable Lee Wilkinson said in a press release they released: "Carl Stewart was in plentiful supply of drugs from Class A and Class B, but it was his passion for Stilton cheese that gave him away."
What Stewart, 39, wasn't aware of was that the moment he shared that photo, he was turning himself in to police.
British police, who had already infiltrated the app, managed to identify the owner of another account that coordinated the sale of cocaine, heroin and other drugs by removing a fingerprint from Stewart's fingers in the photo he shared. Merseyside Police Chief Detective Constable Lee Wilkinson said in a press release they released: "Carl Stewart was in plentiful supply of drugs from Class A and Class B, but it was his passion for Stilton cheese that gave him away."
Stewart pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court, where he was released, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Stewart is just one of the suspects caught over an encrypted messaging app called EncroChat. At its peak, 60,000 people were using the app worldwide, and 10,000 of them were from the UK. The application's detailed encryption features provide additional security for those engaged in illegal activities. The app can only be used on customized Android phones, and with only 1 code, All the information in it can be deleted.
But in July, the UK's National Crime Agency announced that, in collaboration with crime-fighting units of other European countries, they had managed to infiltrate the practice. Shortly after that, 750 criminals were caught across the UK, 77 Guns, 55 luxury vehicles, 73 super-luxury wristwatches, more than 2 tons of drugs and around $ 68 million in cash were seized.
The initiative, called Operation Venetic, saw Merseyside Police alone arrest more than 60 people for drug dealing and weapons offences.
But one of the problems faced by the police was associating real people with certain usernames (aliases). One of the accounts police tracked down was called "Toffeforce." The word was a reference to Everton from their Liverpool team. Through this account, one person was coordinating the sale of cocaine, heroin, MDMA and ketamine.
But in July, the UK's National Crime Agency announced that, in collaboration with crime-fighting units of other European countries, they had managed to infiltrate the practice. Shortly after that, 750 criminals were caught across the UK, 77 Guns, 55 luxury vehicles, 73 super-luxury wristwatches, more than 2 tons of drugs and around $ 68 million in cash were seized.
The initiative, called Operation Venetic, saw Merseyside Police alone arrest more than 60 people for drug dealing and weapons offences.
But one of the problems faced by the police was associating real people with certain usernames (aliases). One of the accounts police tracked down was called "Toffeforce." The word was a reference to Everton from their Liverpool team. Through this account, one person was coordinating the sale of cocaine, heroin, MDMA and ketamine.
Detectives focused on a photo shared by this user: a picture of a mold of Blue Stilton cheese taken in a Marks & Spencer shop...
Wilkinson says in press release: "Based on the photo, the person's palm and fingerprints were analyzed, and it became clear that this was Stewart."
This Isn't The First Time!
British police have used this method before: in 2010, Manchester police managed to identify a criminal who stole rare watches when he shared a photo of himself holding the watches. That man was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
In 2018, detectives in Bridgend, Wales, managed to capture 11 members of a drug gang thanks to a similar technique: a photo shared by the men via WhatsApp showed their hands so that one member of the gang could be identified and the rest easily caught. Wilkinson ends his remarks by saying: "We hope this is an important warning to those involved in the crime that this has serious consequences."