A Huyton man has been jailed for 14 years and three months for his part in flooding the streets with large quantities of cocaine, cannabis and heroin.
Terence Wilson, 38, of Quarry Way, Huyton, was sentenced today, Friday 18 August, at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.
As part of Merseyside Police’s response to Operation Venetic, Wilson was suspected as being behind the Encrochat handle ‘slyvesterthecat’ and conspired to supply 10kg cocaine, 220kg cannabis and 18kg of heroin.
Detectives were able to link Wilson to the encrypted phone after he sent a number of personal images to his contacts, including the inside and outside of his home address, a picture of his haircut during lockdown (see below) and further images of his children.
Some of his contacts also sent him messages on his birthday and he referred his partner by name as well as mentioned the upcoming birth of his child.
After Wilson fled to the Netherlands, officers worked with Dutch police to extradite him back to the UK and he was arrested in May this year.
Detective Sergeant James Boardman said: “Wilson thought he could hide behind an encrypted device, when in fact he was providing us with all the evidence we needed by sending personal images.
“Together with other evidence we were able to gather, we proved that Wilson was operating the Encrochat handle ‘slyvesterthecat’.
“Wilson thought he could run from his crimes by fleeing the country, but his arrest shows that there is no hiding place for criminals and we will pursue all offenders no matter where they hide.
“I think this sends a clear message to criminals that we’ll continue to be relentless in our pursuit of them.”
Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111.
