Caught off guard after posting a dog photo, UK drug gang... Clues found upon closer inspection

Found Phone Number on Dog Leash
Pet Dog in Photo Also Present at Arrest Scene

French Bulldog Bob, the pet dog of a drug cartel member. Photo by the UK's National Crime Agency and Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] A British criminal organization attempting to sell drugs worth 72 billion won was caught because of a single photo of a pet dog posted in a secret chat room.

On the 6th (local time), the British daily The Telegraph and Sky News reported that Danny Brown (55) and his gang, who were arrested for attempting to distribute a large amount of drugs from late 2019 to early 2020 and sentenced to prison on the same day, were caught thanks to important clues such as a photo of Brown's pet dog, 'Bob.'

According to the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), they tried to hide 448 kg of MDMA (commonly known as Ecstasy) worth 45 million pounds (about 72 billion won) based on London city prices in a 40-ton excavator and distribute it to Australia. The gang communicated and conspired crimes through the European encrypted messenger 'EncroChat' to maintain secrecy.

EncroChat was an encrypted messenger mainly used for crimes but is now shut down. Starting with France in 2020, judicial authorities of various countries cooperated to hack EncroChat servers and uncovered a large amount of evidence of crimes such as drug and weapon trafficking and murder conspiracies. Brown and his gang were caught through this.

Investigators found a photo of Bob, a French Bulldog, sent by Brown to his accomplice Stefan Baldauf. By enlarging the photo, they found Brown's partner's phone number written on the collar.

Photos of Brown’s face reflected on a TV and Baldauf’s photo reflected on a nameplate attached to a door also became clues to catch them. The circumstances of their criminal conspiracy were also revealed in messenger conversations.

They planned to send the drugs to Australia, where they could sell them at a higher price, and organized an online auction to make it look like the excavator carrying the drugs was being sold through normal channels.

In fact, the excavator loaded with the drugs they planned to move arrived in Australia in January 2020. Australian authorities, aware of their crime, found and collected the drugs before the gang did, then attached tracking and wiretapping devices to the excavator and allowed it to move to a Sydney auction house.

Australian associates linked to them wasted two days trying to find the drugs in the excavator, and the British gang members searched for the person who caused the delivery accident.

After tracking them through various clues such as photos, British investigators arrested Brown and Baldauf in the outskirts of London in June 2020. Brown’s pet dog Bob was also present at the arrest scene.

Eventually, the drug organization members whose crimes were exposed were sentenced to prison terms: Brown received 26 years, Baldauf 28 years, and another main culprit, Riley, 24 years, marking the end of the crime. Including the prison sentences of three other accomplices who helped hide the drugs and transport the excavator, the total prison terms for the six amount to 140 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.