A drugs boss involved in crime on a 'vast' scale was able to secure a government Covid loan. Lee Walsh, 34, has now been jailed for 14 years for his involvement in peddling heroin, amphetamine, ketamine and cannabis.
In secret messages recovered by police, he told of having access to drugs factories in Scanadanavia and Ireland, and of his plan to send cannabis to both locations.
Within the encrypted Encrochat network, which was cracked by law enforcement, messages revealed that Walsh, from Tameside, was linked to at least four kilos of heroin, 700 kilos of amphetamine, 97 kilos of ketamine and 195 kilos of cannabis.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Walsh, who had previously been jailed in 2011 for being concerned in the supply of drugs, was able to secure £18,000 in Covid grants.