#Encrochat Recent Arrests & Sentencings 2025

1. Nathaniel Thomas Hollywood (Thirsk)

A 39-year-old man used the handle ‘Tasteful Crow’ on EncroChat to broker both drugs and automatic weapons. He pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs, plus breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order, and was sentenced to 26 years and 4 months in prison on 10 April 2025.

2. Isshaq Khan & Jan Lee (Crawley)

As part of the UK’s “biggest ever law-enforcement operation,” two related dealers were identified via EncroChat data and arrested under Operation Venetic in 2020. In February 2025, Isshaq Khan (30) and his nephew Jan Lee (33) were each handed more than 20 years’ imprisonment after admitting their roles in a major conspiratorial network.

3. Merseyside Operation Venetic Convictions

In March/April 2025, Merseyside Police secured prison terms for four men (the Wilson brothers, Andrew Brennan, Anthony Judge) who conspired to traffic over £6 million in illicit tobacco, cocaine, heroin and ketamine via EncroChat messages intercepted in 2020.

4. Essex Drug Network

On 13 January 2025, three men—Simon Renoldi (‘Typicalknee’), Iain Green (‘Harshwater’) and Matthew Hutchinson (‘Pineappletequila’)—received a combined 51 years’ imprisonment. Their convictions followed a Serious Organised Crime Unit probe that traced encrypted EncroChat communications to bulk cocaine shipments both in the UK and abroad.

5. Wiltshire Conspiracy (Winchester Crown Court)

Eight defendants, led by brothers Warren and Kelroy Allison, were jailed to a total of 82 years on 6 February 2025 for running a multi-million-pound cocaine ring—over 70 kg moved—coordinated through EncroChat channels between 2016 and 2020.

#Encrochat Recent Arrests & Sentencings 2025

6. Cheshire “Painter-by-Day” Operation

Three men arrested in March 2024 following a strike day were sentenced on 26 February 2025 after admitting cannabis and cocaine supply charges supported by EncroChat evidence. Sentences ranged from 3 to 16 years, highlighting the breadth of venues in which encrypted-phone data continues to be used.

7. Scottish Gangster Colin Wright

In December 2024, Colin Wright—alias Jack-Nicklaus—was extradited from Spain and sentenced to 13 years for running an amphetamine lab, his conviction grounded in EncroChat breach intelligence that linked him to Liverpool associates.

New Indictments & Ongoing Prosecutions

Dutch EncroChat Reseller

In Den Bosch, the Public Prosecution Service has demanded a 4-year prison term for a 28-year-old accused of preparing and trading EncroChat phones exclusively for criminal use. Her trial concluded in March 2025, with a verdict expected on 15 April 2025.

Impact & What’s Next

Despite the original EncroChat servers being shuttered in mid-2020, this wave of arrests and convictions over the past six months demonstrates how law-enforcement agencies continue to mine historical message dumps for fresh prosecutions. The ongoing Dutch and UK cases against device resellers and users alike signal a transition from network dismantling to sustained legal action, ensuring that encrypted-phone facilitators face accountability as well as end-users.

The EncroChat saga—once hailed as the pinnacle of criminal encryption—now serves as both a cautionary tale to organized-crime groups and a blueprint for cross-border policing, with Operation Venetic’s dead-wave effects reverberating through courts and prison cells well into 2025.