Michael Doyle was jailed earlier this week for his role in a cocaine, heroin and amphetamine conspiracy. He used the “Battle-Hawk” handle to communicate with other criminals and arrange drug supplies to come to Merseyside in the first half of 2020 – but was arrested after a cross-border attempt to hack the messaging service. Messages heard at Liverpool Crown Court earlier revealed that while much of the 44-year-old’s crime was concentrated in the UK, he seemed ambitious to expand his business farther. READ MORE: Encrochat dealer “Battle-Hawk” hid cocaine blocks in the kitchen cupboard Charles Lander, prosecuting, told the court that messages retrieved from the “Battle-Hawk” account revealed that in April 2020 he negotiated with another trader, “earthlyraptor”, about the supply of “tops”, kilos of cocaine and “bots”, quantities of heroin, from the Netherlands. Referring to the messages, Mr Lander said: “Earthlyraptor clearly has the impression that the accused’s contacts are wide-ranging as he comments ‘dude, do you have anyone at the dam .. who can see the bots for us’ – the word “The ‘dam’ is a well-known abbreviation in Amsterdam.” “Earthlyraptor” later confirmed to Doyle that he could supply him with cocaine for 39,500 pounds per kilo. This conversation was not the only one that highlighted Doyle’s desire to smuggle drugs across borders, with other messages referring to “airplane jobs” and “fish jobs” in what a police expert said was reference to drug trafficking by air and sea. . In another months-long conversation, Doyle spoke with another of Encro’s 55 contacts, Madeirablue, about the prospect of sending large sums of money to South America. Doyle asked “Madeirablue” “do you have someone to send a deer to Ecuador”, to which they replied “how much and when”. Doyle then confirmed that it was “3 million euros just done”. Mr Lander said the talks continued until the summer of 2020, with Doyle later confirming in “Madeirablue” that the money was in the “apartment” – in the Netherlands. The messages stopped immediately after the police hacked the Encro network and the criminals started to leave the service. Prosecutors said the “Madeirablue” messages shed light on Doyle’s crime, although they acknowledged they could not prove the deal had ever been finalized. He was eventually arrested in 2021. Police raided his home in Bickerstaffe and found a vacuum-sealed package of cocaine in his home. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and amphetamine as well as possession of cocaine for the purpose of supply. Doyle, of Heyescroft, was jailed for 12 years. Read more related articles Read more related articles
