Man who made more than £57K from selling drugs and guns jailed

A man who ran a drugs and firearms operation through an encrypted communications platform, has been jailed for 14 years.

Kirk Douglas, 43, of Browning Street, Southwark, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court yesterday.

Between May and April in 2020, Douglas was involved in a conspiracy to supply guns which included Scorpion, Uzi and Mac-10 submachine guns and several types of handguns. He had also conspired to supply large quantities of cocaine. Douglas made a profit of £57,980 from this supply.

Police from across Europe accessed an encrypted communications network called Encrochat in 2020 and passed the data to the Met.

Police reviewed the data and found the owner of the handle “Lakepepper” to be Douglas, in April 2021.

Police executed a warrant at his home address and found £57,980 in cash, drugs and evidence linking him to the Lakepepper handle.

Douglas was found guilty of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, conspiracy to possess a firearm without a certificate, conspiracy to supply a class a controlled drug, possessing a controlled drug of Class B with intent and possessing criminal property at Inner London crown court on September 7, after a two week trial.

Met Detective Inspector Jon Summers, said: “Douglas arranged large-scale drug deals to make as much money as possible, with no thought of the misery and devastation he would cause in communities because of the violence it inevitably leads to.

“He traded and bought firearms to protect his organised crime network. 

“He believed using encrypted devices rendered him untouchable, and sought to facilitate the most violent of crimes. 

“Ironically, the steps taken by Douglas to conceal his operation sealed his fate, presenting us with the very evidence used to convict him.”

Pictured top: Kirk Douglas (Picture: The Met)