By Anders Anglesey

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A drug dealer’s topless selfie helped lead police to uncover a multi-million pound plot. Anthony Dean and William Swann used encrypted communications to trade heroin, cocaine, and cannabis. Liverpool Crown Court heard today how Dean used the handle “octojam”, with Swann going by “OctoRain”. Conversations and notes found on their accounts, which were discovered as part of Operation Venetic as the network was infiltrated by French police in 2020, revealed the “sheer quantities and prices these defendants were dealing in”. Prosecutor Matthew Conway, described how the pair had the “ability to source and supply amounts from imported consignments”. Merseyside Police said the messages showed their involvement in discussions concerning deals for 13.5kg of heroin, 13kg of cocaine and 62kg of cannabis. But their identities were ultimately uncovered after they shared pictures showing their unkempt hair amid the COVID-19 pandemic and enforced closure of hairdressers. Dean’s selfie showed him posing topless in a mirror in his bathroom, with Swann then replying with a picture showing his own hair. Following their arrests in January this year, detectives discovered further evidence that showed Dean had continued his involvement in the supply of Class A drugs. This was said to have seen at least a further 100kg supplied in what had been potentially a multi-million pound operation. Dean, of Villiers Terrace in St Helens, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis, conspiracy to import a class B drug and money laundering. He wore a white t-shirt when he appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool and was jailed for 16 years. Swann, of Harrier Close in Maghull, pleaded guilty to encouraging the commission of an offence. The 39-year-old was imprisoned for 14 years by Judge Simon Medland KC. Following the hearing, detective constable Kevin Mitchell said: “This was a sophisticated operation where the drugs they were peddling had a million pound wholesale value. The 100 kilos of Class A drug which Dean was involved with certainly ran into millions. “It was very clear from the messages exchanged that they managed the lucrative drugs operation. This illustrated the strength of evidence put forward to convict them, and they both pleaded guilty. “In one message, Dean bragged that he only wanted to maintain his £6,250 a week personal wage and would reinvest any profits coming in over and above that figure. In a discussion about working too hard on a front business he had set up to clean the illicit money, Dean stated that he had to remember that it was a washing machine, not a business. “Operation Venetic is continuing to expose criminals who thought they could evade detection by using the encrypted devices. Bringing Dean and Swann to justice has disrupted not only the serious organised crime they were involved in but street level drug deals and county lines operations involving vulnerable young people.”