Busted! Drug smuggler caught after he spelled his nickname in cocaine while posing for mobile phone photograph

Wayne Braund, 31, of Rochdale, lined up white powder to say 'Braundy'

Gang imported ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis into UK

Another picture showed lines of cocaine next to a rolled-up €500 note

Gang said they were 'untraceable' by switching PAYG mobile phones



Spelling out his nickname in cocaine, this boastful photograph helped expose a drug smuggler as being part of a huge international criminal gang uncovered by police.

Wayne Braund, 31, was snorting the drug with friends when he used his bank card to line up the white powder to say ‘Braundy’ for the camera, in a picture found on his mobile phone by officers.

The 10-man team operating out of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, had imported £4.5million worth of ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis into Britain disguised as tinned fruit and tomatoes.

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Cannabis resin: The 10-man team operating out of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, had imported £4.5million worth of ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis into Britain disguised as tinned fruit and tomatoes His boss Jason Seale, 45, from Bacup, Lancashire, who was the leader of the gang, also admitted conspiracy and was jailed for 14 years. Six other Britons all from Rochdale and two Dutchmen - one a friend of the infamous drugs gangster Curtis Warren - were jailed for a total of 69 years after admitting drug offences. The court heard the gang had one of the most powerful drugs operations in the North of England. Company director Seale set it up after being freed from a nine-year jail term having been convicted in 2004 of trying to import cannabis into Britain via the island of Guernsey on board a private yacht.

Bagged up: The gang bought drugs wholesale from underworld contacts in Holland and shipped into the UK on pallets, before they were sold onto crime gangs in Liverpool, Leeds, London and Glasgow

Communications: The gang prided themselves on being 'untraceable' by regularly switching pay-as-you-go mobile phones and deleting data including photographs In the latest racket Seale sourced his drugs from two contacts he met in Amsterdam and had them packed into boxes which claimed to be various kinds of tinned fruit and vegetables. 'They used many code names: “paper” for money, “jacket” for cannabis and “trainers or roadrunners” for amphetamines' Gary Woodhall, prosecuting Police acting on a tip off intercepted a shipment of the drugs in December 2011 but the gang carried on importing more narcotics into the UK. Seale was planning to manufacture drugs in a Dutch laboratory before shipping them to the UK - unaware his gold S-type Jaguar had been bugged by detectives. ‘This group was in the business of commercial drug dealing and supplying to other criminal groups including Scotland,’ said Gary Woodhall, prosecuting. ‘They established a professional, sophisticated, well planned business. The group sought to avoid detection by limiting the use of phones and regularly switched telephones.

Ecstasy: The court heard the gang had one of the most powerful drugs operations in the North of England

Cannabis cultivation: Dutchman Edwin Gorlee, 47, was jailed for eight and ten years respectively

‘They deleted data and had business or “dirty” phones, pay-as-you-go. They used BlackBerry Messenger where it is encrypted and uses the internet rather than the network.

‘As long as they did not save messages on phones, such messages would not be detected. Jason Seale was recorded saying how this method of contact was ‘untraceable’.

‘They used many code names: “paper” for money, “jacket” for cannabis and “trainers or roadrunners” for amphetamines. They were in the process of setting up a production line when police intervened.’



On one raid on a flat in Castleton, Rochdale in December 2011, police found 188,734 ecstasy tablets, 176kg of cannabis resin and 67kg of amphetamine worth at least £2.5million.

Police rounded up the gang over the course of the following three months. Seale was held in Holland. His right hand man Byron Milne, 29, was sentenced to a total of 14 and a half years.

Sentenced: Theodorus Van Gelder (left), 54, Ceri Wilmot (centre), 41, and Edwin Gorlee (right), 47, were all jailed

Jailed: Steven Petrie (left), 47, Andrew O'Reilly (centre), 27, and Michael Connolly (right), 28, were all sentenced



Mugshots: Saied Omid (left), 53, and Byron Milne (right), 29. The 10th member, Jason Seale, is not pictured



Transport manager Ceri Wilmot, 41, was jailed for ten years. Andrew O’Reilly, 27, was sentenced to eight years. Courier Michael Connolly, 28, was jailed for five years.

'The incriminating pictures we found just showed the audacity of these criminals' Detective Superintendent Jason Hudson



Braund, 31, whose mobile phone contained incriminating evidence of his drug crimes, and Steven Petrie, 47, whose home address was used to store the drugs, was jailed for 11 years.

Courier Saied Omidi, 53, was jailed for two and a half years. Dutchmen Theodorus Van Gelder, 54, and Edwin Gorlee, 47, were jailed for eight and ten years respectively. All admitted conspiracy.

After the case Detective Superintendent Jason Hudson said: ‘This group were at the top of the drugs supply network in the North West of England and we are delighted with the sentences handed down.