Cases
Cases
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Op Varbody [Snaresbrook] 2025
Family OCG trafficking 1 tonne of cocaine around the UK
Charlotte Hole and Sam Willis prosecuted a family of drug traffickers responsible for moving at least one tonne of cocaine from ports in the South East to towns and cities across the UK.
Headed up by grandmother Deborah Mason, self-described as ‘Gangster Debbs’ and saved in another defendant’s phone as ‘Queen Bee’, the close-knit group of nine defendants were responsible for collecting up to 60 1kg blocks of cocaine at a time from the Harwich / Colchester area, and then delivering them to serious organised crime groups in Rotherham, Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff for onward supply. Around 55 individual trips were made by the group during 2023, each trip involving multiple drug drops or cash collections, amounting to around a tonne of cocaine in total.
The trial of eight of the defendants at Woolwich Crown Court concluded this week, and involved the presentation of cell site and ANPR mapping, surveillance evidence, and a schedule of 7,500 messages exchanged between the defendants revealing the inner workings of the conspiracy.
Two of the defendants pleaded guilty during the trial and six were convicted by the jury. One defendant had already pleaded guilty at an earlier stage in the proceedings.
Charlotte and Sam were instructed by Rob Hutchinson of the CPS Complex Casework Unit.
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Op Tablemaking [Snaresbrook] 2025
Cyber-criminals selling service to circumvent bank security checks
Sam Willis prosecuted three cyber-criminals for building and running a website used by fraudsters to circumvent bank security checks.
Investigated by the National Crime Agency, the website, called OTP.Agency, was a tool designed to be used by fraudsters to convince their victims to hand over the one-time-passcodes sent by banks when accessing online banking or when making purchases.
Logs and messages recovered during the investigation indicated that the website had been used by over 3,000 fraudsters to make over 66,000 calls to potential victims between March and October of 2021.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1w728ypzqxo.amp
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/09/owners-of-1-time-passcode-theft-service-plead-guilty/
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Op Sunshine [Harrow] 2024
Supplying 13kg heroin and cocaine using EncroChat
Sam Willis prosecuted this EncroChat case involving the supply of 13kg of Class A drugs in London. The case centered on attribution, piecing together information from the messages and photographs shared, items seized, call data records, information held on the police databases, tenancy information, and Border Force records. The defendant was convicted after a 5-day trial.
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R v A [Southampton Crown Court] 2024
Large Scale Dealing of Drugs & Firearms Possession
The 9-week trial concerned large scale drug dealing and the possession of numerous firearms. Paul and Liam`s client was said to be a “Leading Role” Class A drug dealer. Mr A accepted he was involved in the drugs trade, but categorically denied possession of the guns which were allegedly found at his “safe-house”. Leading counsel for the crown described the prosecution case against Mr A as “comprehensive and compelling”. After considering Paul`s closing speech the jury disagreed. Mr A was acquitted on all the counts the jury had to determine.
Junior – Liam Sneddon
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Op Narrative [Snaresbrook] 2024
780kg of cocaine concealed inside a shipping container
Sam Willis, led by James Brown, prosecuted the "biggest seizure of Class A drugs" ever made by Northamptonshire Police, centred around a shipment of 780kg of cocaine. Worth £78m, the drugs had been concealed inside a shipping container that had arrived into the Port of Felixstowe.
Sam was instructed by Kate Mulholland of the CPS Complex Casework Unit.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-59493377
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