A drug dealer ratted himself out by reporting his own drugs as missing after leaving them on a train.
After losing a bag filled with “a hefty amount of ketamine,” according to police, 30-year-old Jordan McCourt-Knight reported it missing to train station employees. According to the British Transport Police (BTP), the bag’s contents were worth between $25,000 and $50,000, as reported by WKRC.
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When officers arrested McCourt-Knight, they also found “a small quantity” of drugs, over $2,400, and drug paraphernalia. They also discovered an “Encro device,” a highly secure phone that allows you to send and receive encrypted messages.
“McCourt-Knight and other members of the organized crime group had used the ‘Encro-Chat’ app to discuss the sourcing, supply, and receipt of drugs from Portugal,” the BTP wrote in a press release, per WKRC. “McCourt-Knight’s costly mistake led to the unraveling of the entire drugs line with Harley Hall being identified through messages on the phone as another big player in the drugs enterprise.”
By tracing these texts, police located Hall and ultimately dismantled the drug organization.
“McCourt-Knight and Hall were in direct communication with international drug suppliers, sourcing numerous class A, B, and C drugs which were then supplied throughout various parts of the UK,” said Detective Sergeant Dan Murdoch.
McCourt-Knight was sentenced to six years and three months in prison, while Hall was sentenced to five years and 10 months.
“McCourt-Knight boasted about his use of his Encro-Device which was used along with his mobile phone to source and distribute the drugs,” said Murdoch.
Ironic, considering the device was how authorities tracked down his partner in the first place. Also…pretty prideful for someone who reported his own drugs as missing.
“His boastfulness was short-lived, as, through one careless mistake, McCourt-Knight single-handedly helped bring down the drugs ring, unwittingly aiding detectives in unraveling the entire enterprise,” Murdoch said.
