UNEMPLOYED Samuel De Vere-Hunt and his receptionist girlfriend lived a life of luxury, jet-setting on holidays to Portugal, Ibiza and Mykonos.
The pair went to Los Angeles to watch an NFL game on an incredible trip costing thousands that many could only dream of.
Samuel De Vere-Hunt and his girlfriend Rosie West in Los Angeles Credit: Met Police
De Vere-Hunt was caught with a carrier bag containing stacks of cash Credit: Met Police
They returned from their travels to a property in an affluent Essex village, where a one-bedroom flat can cost half a million quid.
Then it all came crashing down.
The couple had been playing a multimillion-pound role in an organised crime group for years.
Samuel, 30, was responsible for laundering more than £6million in cash and supplying hundreds of kilos of MDMA, ketamine and cannabis destined for London.
To bust the pair, Metropolitan Police officers trawled through thousands of messages on encrypted communication service EncroChat.
The Met described the operation as like “finding a needle in a haystack”.
But what gave away their sophisticated operation was something far more mundane: an online takeaway order.
As the EncroChat messages were sent under anonymous handles, detectives had to painstakingly piece together clues to identify the people behind them.
A series of takeaway orders eventually led officers to the couple’s home address.
Police swooped after discovering that the pair had booked a flight abroad and found Samuel leaving the property carrying a bag stuffed with £160,000 in cash.
A raid uncovered a colossal stash of narcotics, including 15kg of ketamine, 12kg of cannabis and more than 6kg of Class A drugs made up of MDMA and 2C-B.
More than £179,000 in cash was also found in the property and seized.
Police uncovered wads of notes hidden in the couple’s Essex home Credit: Met Police
Samuel De Vere-Hunt was sentenced to 12 years in prison earlier this year. Credit: Met Police
Messages showed that between March and June 2020 alone, the pair had been involved in moving £3.5million in cash, as well as cannabis and ketamine deals.
In total, they were estimated to have handled more than £12million in criminal cash and drugs.
Now a former detective who specialised in financial crime and drug operations has lifted the lid on how forces track sophisticated criminals and the mundane clues that can give them away.
Steve Gaskill, a former detective chief inspector who served on the Met’s Central Drug Squad and managed financial investigations across London, said: “With this particular case if I was a DCI and if I’d seen this sort of police behaviour I would have been taking those guys for celebrations.
“This is excellent police work.”
He added: “Over the last few years I’ve been quite critical of police forces not taking out organised crime groups like this.”
Although De Vere-Hunt communicated using anonymous EncroChat accounts, detectives were able to compare information within thousands of messages to identify the people behind them.
Steve said police can bring together details from different sources to gradually build a picture of a suspect: “There is always a digital footprint.”
He explained: “They can scrape all of these indices and start finding out a lot more about some of the characters under investigation.
“All of these seemingly innocuous pieces of information are put together to build a picture.”
The takeaway orders may have appeared insignificant, but Steve said major drug investigations can hinge on a single everyday delivery.
Recalling another operation, he said: “We got one phone call that a single online order was being delivered to an address.
“It was a small amount of information and eventually seven people were convicted of conspiracy to supply amphetamine.”
Once police had identified De Vere-Hunt and his home, they still had to choose the right moment to strike.
Officers moved in after discovering that the couple had booked a flight abroad, catching De Vere-Hunt outside the property with cash stuffed in a bag.
Steve said detectives must avoid revealing their hand too early, particularly when they are also attempting to trace a suspect’s money.
He explained: “I wouldn’t freeze the assets too soon because, if the suspect went to the bank and tried to draw money out, it could say Scotland Yard had put the money under restraint.
“That would give them a clue they were being looked at.”
De Vere-Hunt’s lavish trips, expensive watch and lack of legitimate income would have provided detectives with further pieces of the financial puzzle.
Steve said: “One of the things the Great Train Robbers did was make sure their unexplained wealth wasn’t flaunted. This guy was doing the opposite.
Police found a colossal stash of narcotics, including 15kg of ketamine, 12kg of cannabis and more than 6kg of Class A drugs made up of MDMA and 2C-B Credit: Met Police
“A lot of these guys get complacent. They never think the police are going to start mounting a sophisticated operation like they did here.
Girlfriend Rosie Wise was also convicted Credit: Met Police
“If you go to the pub with your mates and someone who is unemployed is wearing an expensive watch, that alone could prompt somebody to pass information to the police.”
Officers also had to prove that Samuel’s girlfriend, Rosie Wise, was not simply enjoying his wealth without knowing where it came from.
Proving that a criminal’s partner was knowingly involved can be difficult, as they will often insist they had no idea how their lifestyle was being funded, Steve explains.
He said: “They are often quite happy to live off the ill-gotten gains, but when the partner was arrested they would then claim they didn’t know what was happening.
“Of course, in some cases that is true. But when I was carrying out one of these big investigations, we would have a really good look at their finances.”
Detectives examine whether a partner’s job, bank accounts or possessions have been used to hide criminal funds or make the couple’s wealth appear legitimate.
Steve added: “Often they will be presented as gainfully employed and not up to anything, and that can be used as a cover, as we have seen in this case with her working a minimum wage job.”
By combining the EncroChat messages, takeaway orders, travel plans and financial evidence, officers exposed the people behind the anonymous accounts and moved before they could leave the country.
Steve said: “The investigating officer has done remarkably well. He has come out with enough intelligence and evidence to take this gang down.”
The case forms part of the Met’s work to tackle serious and organised crime groups, with gangs disrupted more than 21,230 times in London last year, a 63 per cent rise on the previous year.
PC Bob Rosie, from the Specialist Crime Developing Threats Team, led the investigation for the Met.
He said: “Investigating De Vere-Hunt was like finding a needle in a haystack.
“He has been brought to justice thanks to thorough detective work which was able to identify him as the owner of two EncroChat handles, ultimately leading us to his house in Essex, where he had over 33kg of Class A and B drugs.
“This investigation shows the Met’s relentless pursuit of organised crime and displays a key data-led approach to tackling offenders.
“Criminals should be in no doubt that we will identify them, track them and bring them before the courts.
“Our work dismantling networks like this directly reduces the serious violence and exploitation that drug supply fuels on the streets of London, with a number of other offenders having been identified through this investigation and put before the courts.
“Every seizure, every arrest and every conviction undoubtedly makes London safer.”
Samuel De Vere-Hunt was sentenced to 12 years in prison in January.
His girlfriend and accomplice Rosie Wise, 25, was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison, suspended for two years.
