An EncroChat heavyweight crook was instrumental in the operation of a notorious firm and played an "integral" role in a menacing blackmail plot. Edward Jarvis, 59, a key figure in the organised crime group (OCG) led by Vincent Coggins, was involved in trafficking huge quantities of class A drugs worth millions of pounds. Jarvis helped to orchestrate the crime gang’s huge supply of consignments of cocaine and heroin to mid-level dealers across Merseyside and the rest of the country.
During his trial at Manchester Crown Court, the jury heard the gang were involved in the supply of 150kg of cocaine and 215kg of heroin during a brief conspiracy in the early months of 2020, reports the ECHO. Along with the gang's boss, Coggins, and co-conspirators Paul Woodford and Michael Earle , Jarvis also plotted a violent vendetta against a number of individuals who they suspected had robbed one of their drug stash houses and made off with over £1m of cocaine. But, the gang's plans, made over the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat, were monitored by police officers after the technology was hacked in April 2020 by European law enforcement.
A series of court cases over the past four years involving members of the gang were subjected to a media blackout. Reporting restrictions on the naming of Coggins and his role in the gang were only able to be revealed after Jarvis was unanimously found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court in May. Jarvis was returned to the same court this mornin.