KINGPIN JAILED FOR 18 YEARS — CRIMINAL EMPIRE EXPOSED BY ENCROCHAT
Gregory Bell, 43, has been jailed for 18 years and 9 months after investigators uncovered a nationwide drug trafficking and money-laundering operation worth millions.
Operating under encrypted aliases including ‘Castlenail’, ‘Rhinoradio’ and ‘Wonkyfrog’, Bell ran his criminal enterprise using encrypted phones, couriers, safe houses and associates to distribute cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamine and cannabis across the UK.
💰 32 HOUSES LINKED TO THE KINGPIN
Despite declaring no income for six years, Bell owned 32 properties subject to restraint orders. He also paid £2,200 a month in cash for a luxury apartment in Alderley Edge, where police discovered £77,000 worth of designer clothing.
Officers uncovered safe houses containing drugs, weapons and huge sums of cash, including £150,000 at one location.
Bell’s associates even submitted ‘timesheets’ to claim wages for drug deliveries.
🌍 THREE MORE MAJOR SENTENCES
🔒 Gregory Bell — 18 years and 9 months.
🔒 Ian Ogden — 16 years and 8 months.
🔒 Paul Brown — 10 years.
Brown fled to Spain in 2020 but was arrested in 2024 and extradited to the UK.
Six other members of the organised crime group had already been jailed in 2023, including one sentenced to 16 years and six months.
The case formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK law-enforcement response to the takedown of the encrypted EncroChat communications network.
Investigators described Bell’s operation as a criminal enterprise operating on an industrial scale, with multi-kilo drug deals taking place regularly.
32 PROPERTIES. ENCRYPTED PHONES. MILLIONS IN CRIMINAL PROFITS.
Another major organised crime network dismantled.
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