Encrochat dealer ‘Magiccider’ busted after posing for photo with cannabis

Nathan Harding sold heroin, cocaine and cannabis with an estimated value of £1.5million

An Encrochat drug dealer was busted by police after sharing a photo of himself posing with cannabis.

Nathan Harding, who used the handle ‘Magiccider’, sold heroin, cocaine and cannabis worth around £1.5million through the encrypted phone network.

The 30-year-old of Maud Street, Toxteth, thought he sent text messages about the drugs sale in secret – but he was brought down after detectives found his fingerprints on a photograph holding cannabis in his hand.

Harding used the Encrochat handle ‘Magiccider’ between April to May 2020, before the handle was passed over to Craig O’Hare.

Harding then created a new handle called ‘Lesserhedge’, to continue carrying out his criminal activity.

The pair worked together to supply multi-kilos of cocaine, heroin and cannabis across Merseyside and other parts of the UK.

But they were brought down after detectives discovered text messages where Harding discussed the sale of cocaine and heroin with an estimated wholesale value of £521,000, along with 193 kilos of a cannabis worth around £1 million.

Police also found evidence through the Encrochat network that O’Hare had transported the drugs and supplied up to three kilos of Class A drugs and 10 kilos of cannabis.

Both men were arrested in June as part of Operation Venetic, also known as Encrochat, an international investigation into the use of encrypted mobile devices which saw criminals adopt and hide behind code names.