One of the most wanted fugitives in UK detained

One of the most wanted men in the UK has been put in jail for being in a gang that sold drugs and guns.

Dean Garforth used to live in Widnes, Cheshire. He was running away from the police for two years. They caught him in Marbella, Spain in 2022 while he was trying to escape on an e-bike.

The 31-year-old confessed to planning to sell illegal drugs and moving weapons and bullets.

He was given a prison sentence of 18 years and 8 months at Chester Crown Court.

Cheshire Police said Garforth was the leader and used the EncroChat network to talk about selling a lot of illegal drugs with other criminals.

Investigators started collecting evidence against him in April 2020, watching and studying his messages using the username Slickcliff.

The next month, a van didn’t stop when the police tried to pull it over on Bradley Way, Widnes.

It was later discovered parked in Norlands Park in Widnes.

The police found a phone that belonged to Garforth when they looked in the van.

Garforth used the device to send messages on EncroChat, but now EncroChat doesn’t work anymore.

Between March and July 2020, Garforth talked to his friends about getting and setting up lots of deliveries of drugs, guns, and bullets in the north-west of England.

Police went to his house in October 2020 with a warrant, but he had already gone to Spain, they said.

In January 2022, he was on a list of 12 wanted people in the UK who are thought to be hiding in Spain.

Garforth was riding an electric bike on a road in Marbella when he got arrested in a planned operation in October 2022 and was later sent back to the UK.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Henderson said that Garforth, like many other criminals, thought that EncroChat was a safe and secure way to send messages without getting caught.

“He didn’t know it, but our detectives were watching. ”

The locked device used to be seen as a secure way to talk about crime without getting caught by the police. Once the police figured it out, it meant that people using it would have a hard time denying that they were involved in serious crime.