Local Drug Gang Planned to Pose as NHS Workers

---

Mother and son duo laundered cash for one of London's largest coke dealers

Catherine and Joe Roche who lived in Imperial Wharf. Picture: Met Police

Four people including three from the Hammersmith and Fulham area have been jailed after being convicted of running what police believe was one of the largest cocaine dealing operations in London and the Home Counties.

Their network came to the attention of the police when the messaging system they used to communicate was hacked by police. Operation Venetic is the UK law enforcement response to the takedown of encrypted messaging platform EncroChat.

Officers from the Organised Crime Partnership (OCP), a joint NCA and Metropolitan Police Service unit arrested the gang after hearing them discuss how they were planning to use a stolen NHS ID to avoid being stopped by police while they were distributing their product during lockdown.

Andrew Doyle, aged 35, from North End Road, Hammersmith, had a previous conviction for drugs and is believed by police to have been the ringleader.

Using the alias ‘Neighbourhoodhero’ on EncroChat, Doyle was linked to messages that showed he played a leading role in buying and selling cocaine across London.

In April of last year he was discussing the increased risk of being stopped by police whilst lockdown restrictions were in place.

In one message, he asks another EncroChat user, “Mate, do you have a high vis and stuff for the Van? And like builder clothes? We need to look official in times like this.”

Doyle was speaking with associate Derrick Canning, 50, from Linkfield Road in Isleworth, whose role was to transport the drugs.

Andrew Doyle and Derrick Canning

In other messages, Doyle mentions that he has a friend working for the NHS who has an NHS pass if he is stopped and “driving through London, old bill are everywhere…pulling people.”

Regular messages were also exchanged with mother and son duo, Catherine and Joe Roche, who lived in Imperial Wharf in Fulham.

Using the handle ‘Diamondsareforever’ 63-year-old Catherine Roche, mainly handled the cash side of the operation and was aided by her 29-year-old son Joe, AKA ‘Cremebrulee’ in cutting and transporting it.

Joe Roche swapped messages regularly with Doyle and joked about clapping for dealers during the height of the first lockdown.

Doyle, and his counterparts were all arrested at their homes in June last year, where nearly 50,000 MDMA pills, cash, a cash counting machine, encrypted phones and Rolex watches were seized.

This Monday (17 May), all four appeared at Kingston Crown Court were they were sentenced to a combined 33 and a half years in prison, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

Matt McMillan, OCP Manager, said: “We believe this group distributed huge amounts of drugs across parts of London and the Home Counties.

“Evidence showed that they plotted to continue their operation during the first and strictest UK lockdown. A risk that didn’t pay off in the end.

“The trade in class A drugs fuels violence and exploitation and today’s sentences are yet another example of the NCA and Met Police working together to protect the public from this threat.”

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

May 18, 2021