Drug lord who fuelled South London gangs is given 11-year jail term

A man has been jailed after a Met investigation accessed his EncroChat device and discovered an operation using South London gangs to supply cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of £3million.

Footballer Jason Pusey, 34, was sentenced to 11 years and three months imprisonment on Tuesday at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court. Pusey was sentenced for his role in the supply of 107kgs of cocaine, 235kgs of ketamine and 447kgs of cannabis.

He was a Gibraltarian footballer who began his career with the youth team at Atletico Madrid and went on to play in Spain and Gibraltar, earning four caps for his national side.

Detective Constable Duncan Askew, responsible for the investigation from the Met’s Specialist Crime team , said: “Pusey arranged large-scale drug deals while also maintaining a well-respected football career.

“On the surface he appeared as a doting family man – but he was making millions sending commercial scale amounts of controlled drugs to south London gangs.

“He did this all with no thought of the misery and devastation caused in London communities by drug supply, and the violence it leads to.

“Operation Eternal investigations over the last three years have resulted in the Met identifying and jailing major players in the criminal fraternity, and stemming the flow of drugs and guns onto the streets.

“The drugs trade relies upon exploitation and violence to operate and we will continue to relentlessly pursue those involved, and put them before the courts.”

Detectives from the Met closed in on Pusey, of Coperland Crescent, Market Weighton, York, and began investigating the Encrochat handle ‘IrregularFog’ in June 2020.

EncroChat is an encrypted communication network. Evidence showed that between March 2020 and June 2020 Pusey was the sole user of the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone and was involved in the whole sale distribution of class A and B drugs.

Passwords matched the names and date of births of Pusey’s family members, the locations of the EncroChat phone matched those of his mobile phone, and messages on the device matched Pusey’s extremely specific travel details.

There was evidence within the EncroChat device which showed that Pusey had been running a very successful drug operation. The EnchroChat device also had on it many messages regarding the importation of the Class A drugs into the UK and the very detailed routes being used by different importers and couriers.

Pusey was arrested at his home address on June 20 last year and charged a day later with the offences.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drug (cocaine), conspiracy to supply Class A (Ketamine), and conspiracy to supply Class B (Cannabis) at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court on July 26 last year.

Pictured top: Pusey in Gibraltar Phoenix FC kit (Picture: Wikimedia Commons) and seized evidence: An image from the EnroChat account (centre) and cocaine wrap (Pictures: The Met)