A plot to smuggle £45 million worth of drugs to Australia was smashed after a gangster accidentally sent a photo of his dog on an encrypted network.
The picture, spotted on Encron by National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, showed Danny Brown’s partner’s phone number on his pet dog’s tag.
Brown’s gang had stuffed the huge stash of MDMA in the arms of a mechanical digger, and created a fake auction to make shipping the machinery 10,000 miles from Southampton to Brisbane in Australia appear legitimate.
But their attempt to reap the higher market value of drugs down under was foiled.
Brown, 55, unintentionally sabotaged the intricate plot by sending a photo of his pet dog Bob on encrypted messaging service EncroChat, clearly showing his partner’s personal information.