Drug dealer who arranged for cocaine and heroin to come to Nottinghamshire ordered to pay back £300,000 of ill-gotten gains

Last year, David Martin, 43, was locked up for nine years for his role in a drugs conspiracy following a complex investigation.

Two other men, from Nuthall and Hucknall, were also jailed for a combined eight years.

Operation Venetic was the UK law enforcement response to the takedown of an encrypted global communication service known as EncroChat.

EncroChat devices have been favoured by organised crime bosses across Europe for years as they allowed them to communicate secretly without police being able to view their messages - making it difficult to link them to criminal activity.

But following a infiltration of the service by French and Dutch law enforcement, Nottinghamshire Police was able to work alongside the National Crime Agency to expose a major drug supply into Nottinghamshire.

It led to the capture of Martin who was a highly-placed member of a criminal drug dealing organisation and who played a leading role in arranging for regular multi-kilo consignments of Class A drugs - mainly cocaine and heroin - to be brought to Nottingham from Liverpool.

During the coronavirus lockdown, he discussed borrowing an ambulance to transport the drugs and dressing women up as nurses to bypass the restrictions.

His role involved him negotiating the supply of consignments of drugs, arranging cash payments for the drugs, recruiting and managing couriers and overseeing the logistics.

Two of the couriers he recruited, Jamie Wilkinson, 45, and Lee Bennett, 31, were also taken down by police as part of the investigation.

Wilkinson, formerly of Ash Crescent in Nuthall, was subsequently jailed for four-and-a-half years and Bennett, formerly of Kenbrook Road in Hucknall, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Martin sent them to Liverpool to collect the drugs and make payments on his behalf. On one single journey, 5kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin to the value of £300,000 was brought into Nottinghamshire.

The investigation which brought them down involved analysing communications over the EncroChat system between Martin and others, using automatic number plate recognition cameras to establish journeys were taken and marry that up with the locations of devices at the time.

Searches of their home address and Martin’s Ultimate Gym in Hucknall were later executed, resulting in Martin's arrest.

On Wednesday, February 9, following a Proceeds of Crime Act application hearing at Nottingham Crown Court, Martin, formerly of Third Avenue, Rainworth, was ordered to repay £300,000 – an agreed sum which he benefitted from his criminal activity.

Detective Sergeant Emma Pollard, of Nottinghamshire Police, who led the investigation, said: "I'm delighted with this successful confiscation order and that such a significant sum has been taken out of criminal hands.

“The amount confiscated is considerable and will stay with Martin for the rest of his life until it is paid off."

A portion of the funds raised from confiscation is returned to law enforcement and can be reinvested in tackling crime or community initiatives helping to reduce crime and bring stronger cohesion.