The 'illusion' of cocaine dealer who posed as successful businessman with luxury lifestyle

A cocaine dealer who posed as a successful businessman with a luxury lifestyle has been jailed. Anthony Davies, 38, bought books on property as he sought to portray himself as a legitimate entrepreneur. But police said it was 'all an illusion'.

Davies, from Widnes, Cheshire, was exposed as a drug dealer after law enforcement infiltrated the EncroChat communications network. Criminals across Europe had been using the system in a bid to commit crime with impunity.

Davies was found to have sourced, purchased and sold at least 15 kilos of class A drugs, cocaine and heroin, as well as five kilos of cannabis between March 2020 and June 2020.

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Police raided his home on July 23. A number of luxury items, including over £5,000 in cryptocurrency, £6,000 in cash, designer clothing and six 'Rolex' watches were recovered. But police said the watches were fake.

Davies was jailed for 12 years at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis. Cheshire Police said in a statement: "Davies was found to have been supplying multi-kilograms of drugs in Widnes and various other towns and cities across the United Kingdom. In the encrypted messages, Davies can be seen to play a leading role in the drug conspiracy – acquiring bulk supplies of class A and B drugs from his upstream suppliers, before arranging the onward distribution to his downstream customers.

"Davies orchestrated multi-kilo drug deals via a sophisticated and well-established supply network – indicative of his position within the organised crime world and the level that he was operating amongst his associates.

"He would also act as a ‘middleman’ within the supply network, arranging for the sale and distribution of drugs between potential buyers and sellers. Davies would direct and instruct others within his operation to carry out his bidding, adopting more of a ‘hands-off’ approach – however he would still help himself to substantial profits.

"The level of criminality Davies was operating at meant the profits were significant in value, and he was trusted by his upstream suppliers to pay back large sums of money in exchange for bulk amounts of illegal drugs. EncroChat messages show he pocketed in excess of £60,000 for sourcing and selling five kilograms of cocaine in one transaction alone."

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Henderson, of the force's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “Davies was at the top of the chain when it came to operating in serious and organised crime. He was at the highest level running a serious and large-scale commercial drugs business supplying substantial amounts of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis.

“He chose to do this by operating under the radar, using an encrypted and sophisticated device that would keep his communication secretive in order to avoid detection. He painted himself as a successful business man and even bought books on property investment, but in reality, it was all an illusion.

"His Rolex watches were fake, and he was unable to use his money in any legitimate way. After EncroChat was infiltrated officers were able to comb through the messages attributed to Davies that led to his arrest and being put behind bars for a long time.”