Father and son were involved in the supply of vast amounts of cocaine

A father and son from Maidstone were part of an organised crime group which used the encrypted EncroChat phone service to facilitate the supply of vast quantities of cocaine.

Ashley Steel and James Steel have now been jailed along with their associate Danny Devall, after an investigation led to the discovery of drugs hidden in places including behind the front grille of a vehicle.    

EncroChat was a secure messaging service and was used by James Steel and Devall to secretly communicate with other criminals.

It was decoded in the spring of 2020, by international law enforcement agencies.

Some of the decrypted messages were passed to Kent Police and this led to a lengthy investigation which revealed the pair had been using EncroChat user handles including Wonderfulninja, Minorlobster and Prizelake.

They directed associates to addresses linked to James Steel’s father (Ashley) to make exchanges of cash and drugs.

Search warrants

During the early hours of 25 April 2024, a search warrant was executed at James Steel’s home in Chartway Street, Sutton Valence.

More than £50,000 in cash was seized as well as vehicles including high-end motorcycles and a speed boat.

At the same time, searches took place at Ashley Steel’s house in Middlesex Road, Maidstone, as well as business units linked to him near Gravelly Bottom Road, Kingswood.

Ten kilograms of cannabis and 150g of cocaine were found hidden within vehicles at one of the business addresses. Around £5,000 was also recovered.

Conspiracy

The Steels were arrested along with Devall and all three were charged with drugs supply offences.

At Maidstone Crown Court, James Steel and Danny Devall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Further counts related to the supply of heroin and ketamine were ordered by the court to lie on file.

James Steel also admitted to possessing cannabis and possessing criminal property (seized cash).

On 23 December, Devall, 36, of Common Road, Hadlow was sentenced to eight years and seven months’ imprisonment. James Steel, 40, received eight years and four months.

Ashley Steel, 61, was previously sentenced on 5 December to two years and two months.

He had pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply. He also admitted possessing an offensive weapon (knuckle duster).

Wholesale operation

Detective Constable Mark Simcox said:

‘Our investigation has clearly shown that James Steel and Danny Devall occupied leading roles in a criminal network which sought to supply drugs on a wholesale scale. They will have felt untouchable letting others take the risks whilst using an encrypted communication platform. ‘It is impossible to quantify the sheer amount of drugs which may have passed through this operation, however, we know from other cases that EncroChat has been used by criminal gangs to facilitate the movement of cocaine with transactions totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds. 'We will now be using the Proceeds of Crime Act to seek to recover cash and any other assets acquired, as a result of this criminal activity.’