Drug dealers jailed for international conspiracy

Iain Green, Simon Renoldi and Matthew Hutchinson were linked to more than £1m in cash

Essex Police Custody shots of Iain Green, Simon Renoldi and Matthew Hutchinson. Green is bald and has his mouth open. Renoldi has short grey hair and has a blank expression. Hutchinson also has grey hair and looks more serious in his expression. — Iain Green, Simon Renoldi and Matthew Hutchinson were linked to more than £1m in cash

Three men who conspired to sell large batches of Class A drugs across the globe have been jailed.

Simon Renoldi, Matthew Hutchinson and Iain Green were caught after police cracked EncroChat, an encrypted international communication service.

The defendants, from Essex, were later linked with more than £1m in cash seized from various properties.

They were jailed at Basildon Crown Court having been found guilty of a series of drug offences in November.

It followed intelligence shared by law enforcement agencies from England, France and the Netherlands.

Renoldi, 53, of High Road, Fobbing, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply ecstasy and two offences of conspiracy to supply a Class B drug and was jailed for 21 years
Green, 54, of Ronald Park Drive, Westcliff-on-Sea, was convicted of conspiring to supply cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and was jailed for 17 years
Hutchinson, 55, of Talbrook, Brentwood, was found guilty of conspiring to supply cocaine and ketamine and was jailed for 13 years

Having cracked EncroChat in April 2020, police found Renoldi, Green and Hutchinson were using the pseudonyms "Typicalknee", "Harshwater" and "Pineappletequila" respectively.

The messages showed Hutchinson was involved in shipping cocaine and ketamine to New Zealand and Australia, Essex Police said.

Police found Renoldi was stashing £68,950 in cash at The Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope

Geograph/Chris Whippet The Railway Tavern, which is a pub on the corner of a residential road. It is grey with a blue banner that runs along it. There are grey doors and windows. — Police found Renoldi was stashing £68,950 in cash at The Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope

While police were covertly watching them, Renoldi and Green met to exchange more than £140,000 in cash, the force added.

It was officers' belief that Green and Hutchinson both owed "tens of thousands of pounds" to Renoldi.

During the investigation, police raided an address in Basildon and found £805,000 in cash and 5kg of cocaine.

They also found a notebook leading them to The Railway Tavern in Stanford-le-Hope, where Renoldi was found to have been stashing £68,950.

'Large-scale supply'

Det Insp Yoni Adler, of Essex Police's serious and organised crime unit, said he was pleased the jury saw through the defendants' "lies" after an extensive investigation.

"These prison sentences are a fair reflection of the months of careful surveillance and evidence gathering led by our team," he said.

"Simon Renoldi, Iain Green, and Matthew Hutchinson were involved in the large-scale supply of drugs and the exchange of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds."

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.