Fugitive Heroin Trafficker Jailed After Years on the Run Using Encrypted Chat App
Caernarfon, UK – A Liverpool drug dealer who helped smuggle almost a million pounds’ worth of heroin into the UK and then fled the country has been given a prison sentence of more than 12 years.
Brian Storey, 49, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison after admitting to bringing heroin into the country and selling it at Caernarfon Crown Court. He was a big part of a crime group that moved drugs from Spain and the Netherlands. They used encrypted EncroChat phones to hide paranoia-proof their operations.
Storey, operating under the alias “RichJay”, coordinated the import of at least 18 kilograms of high-purity heroin—worth an estimated £900,000—via international couriers. The parcels were delivered to bogus companies across England before being distributed to contacts in Liverpool and North Wales.
The case was part of Operation Venetic, which was the UK’s response to the takedown of EncroChat, a site that organized criminals used a lot. Investigators found out that the group wanted to bring up to 90 kilograms of heroin into the country every week.
Storey fled the UK in 2021, shortly before a warrant was executed at his Fulwood Park home. Using a fake passport, he escaped to southern Spain while his four co-conspirators were sentenced to over 30 years in prison collectively.
His run ended in September 2023 when a Cheshire Police officer responding to an unrelated assault in Chester recognised Storey and arrested him on the spot. He initially denied all charges but changed his plea just days into his trial on 23 July 2025.
Organised Supply Chain Unraveled
The smuggling ring used fake business addresses and courier accounts that looked real in towns like Huntingdon, Northampton, Swindon, and Milton Keynes to hide what they were doing. Two members were caught with almost 10 kg of heroin in May 2020 while handing it off in a Mold pub parking lot.
Encrypted messages revealed Storey’s hands-on role in the drug logistics. He instructed associates on how to set up fake companies and where to route the deliveries, all while remaining behind the veil of a secure chat handle.
NCA lead investigator Luke Seldon said Storey was “an essential component” of the heroin supply chain, adding: “More deaths are associated with heroin than any other drug. The NCA is committed to tracking down and prosecuting those responsible for flooding the UK with it.”
