UK - 39 bodies found in lorry container, Essex, 23 Oct 2019 *Guilty* #3

[Marysmith]

The messages that Thomas Maher sent to arrange an attack on Ronan Hughes have been revealed.

Texts of gangland fixer show plot to have killer 'hurt' in jail

Encrochat messages recovered by the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that Maher, who used the handle Satirical, had a particular interest in Hughes.

A text from Maher to an associate of Hughes read: "Seen that m8 that's the fella that bought the wagon."

[Redacted1]: "Yea just came up as breaking news over here."

[Redacted1]: "I'll take it you're mans xxxxxx."

[Redacted2]: "That one them brothers been charged mate"

Maher "Yes m8 that's the fella."

[Redacted2]: "Has he anything on u mate?"

Maher: "Only hear say m8 .I'll know if they lift me again over the next few weeks ha ha I'll shower every night put on clean jocks before bed in case they do ha ha be a few days with out a shower but nothing to keep me for lol."

[Redacted2]: U be good they been getting info out him last few months... Just need to carful we both do... Going away even them xxxxx from UK they follow u to the end off the earth.

The following day Maher sent another message to contacts which read: "Have you anyone in ( name of prison.) "

One of the contacts replied: "I'll ask what's up?"

Maher replied: "I want to get a fella seen .."

He was asked "Seen hurt you mean."

Maher replied: "Yes."

The messages continued and Maher was asked if he wanted Hughes to know where the attack came from.

He replied : "Yeah, dragging me into this mess."

When the NCA realised there was a credible plot to harm Hughes they intervened to protect him.

Wow!!!

 

[Bogyo13]

The messages that Thomas Maher sent to arrange an attack on Ronan Hughes have been revealed.

Texts of gangland fixer show plot to have killer 'hurt' in jail

Encrochat messages recovered by the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that Maher, who used the handle Satirical, had a particular interest in Hughes.

A text from Maher to an associate of Hughes read: "Seen that m8 that's the fella that bought the wagon."

[Redacted1]: "Yea just came up as breaking news over here."

[Redacted1]: "I'll take it you're mans xxxxxx."

[Redacted2]: "That one them brothers been charged mate"

Maher "Yes m8 that's the fella."

[Redacted2]: "Has he anything on u mate?"

Maher: "Only hear say m8 .I'll know if they lift me again over the next few weeks ha ha I'll shower every night put on clean jocks before bed in case they do ha ha be a few days with out a shower but nothing to keep me for lol."

[Redacted2]: U be good they been getting info out him last few months... Just need to carful we both do... Going away even them xxxxx from UK they follow u to the end off the earth.

The following day Maher sent another message to contacts which read: "Have you anyone in ( name of prison.) "

One of the contacts replied: "I'll ask what's up?"

Maher replied: "I want to get a fella seen .."

He was asked "Seen hurt you mean."

Maher replied: "Yes."

The messages continued and Maher was asked if he wanted Hughes to know where the attack came from.

He replied : "Yeah, dragging me into this mess."

When the NCA realised there was a credible plot to harm Hughes they intervened to protect him.

What an idiot.. this case was so high profile, glad LE was on high alert.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Wow! Good sleuthing Silverlink.

As if Maher hadn’t created enough ‘mess’ of his own to get dragged into.

And lucky for Hughes that Encrochat was cracked. I am surprised they publicised the threat to Hughes when they did (I think they said something like a ‘credible threat’ to ‘someone’ held wrt the case) because that must have been a strong clue that they were in Encrochat and therefore gathering evidence against Maher and others.

Or maybe the Encrochat busts had begun by then, I can’t remember.

I feel so much safer knowing that my own hairdresser had a female partner ;

 

[Silverlink]

More Thomas Maher EncroChat messages have been revealed.

Text messages expose secret life of ordinary dad who worked for cartel

 

[Silverlink]

Also found this very detailed long read on Maher's activities and the investigation into him in the Sunday Times from last month, behind a paywall but you can view the article for free if you register:

The EncroChat bust: how police hacked the secret gangster messaging network | The Sunday Times Magazine | The Sunday Times

 

[CaptainNancy]

I hope Maher’s illiterate chats lead to more arrests and the authorities being able to stop drug trafficking at source. But I fear it’s a river that just gets displaced.

So much of the youth violence and crime that blights lives where I live is caused by this trade and bastards like Maher getting rich on it.

Thanks for your ongoing sleuthing and monitoring of this, Silverlink.

Just waiting for CG to b brought to court.

 

[Silverlink]

Catherine Dawson, who laundered money for Thomas Maher, gets a suspended sentence of three years and nine months.

Suspended sentence for woman caught money laundering

 

[CaptainNancy]

More about life in the Maher family, why TM plead guilty, and a rare pic of R Hughes as a change from his mugshot
Trucker Thomas Maher faces losing fortune after 'bulletproof' encryption system is blown wide open

 

[CaptainNancy]

Catherine Dawson, who laundered money for Thomas Maher, gets a suspended sentence of three years and nine months.

Suspended sentence for woman caught money laundering

I am amazed that someone can end up with a huge amount of money in their car without having any connection at all to the network it belonged to. How curious. A lot of emphasis on the mitigating factors and the impact on her. too. She is certainly small fry compared to TM and his GBH threatening international gang, and probably a victim of them, being used. But how does a healthcare worker end up with such cash in their car?

 

[Silverlink]

I am amazed that someone can end up with a huge amount of money in their car without having any connection at all to the network it belonged to. How curious. A lot of emphasis on the mitigating factors and the impact on her. too. She is certainly small fry compared to TM and his GBH threatening international gang, and probably a victim of them, being used. But how does a healthcare worker end up with such cash in their car?

From a piece RTE did on the case:

Catherine Dawson was the ideal choice for an organised crime group to move drugs money. A healthcare worker in a company car marked with the healthcare company's name, logo, website and telephone number. She had a valid reason for being out of her home and travelling around during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her movements were unlikely to cause suspicion during lockdown when gardaí were seizing millions in cash and drugs from criminals who should not have been out. When stopped at a garda checkpoint, she was quickly waved through. She had no criminal convictions nor had her family or friends. She had no network of criminal contacts and no links to organised crime.

Catherine Dawson was not the focus of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau's investigation when they stopped her in May 2020 and they do not believe the watches and bags found in her home are connected to her. She was not in any way on "the garda radar". Her arrest that evening was, to say the least, unexpected.

Detective Garda Mary Moore accepted Catherine's defence that she was acting on the instructions of another person, and that she was "reckless" and did what she did out of "misguided trust". Her actions have, however, cost her her home, her relationship, her reputation and her livelihood. Garda vetting is required for care workers and Catherine Dawson can no longer work in healthcare.

The healthcare worker who turned crooked cash courier

 

[CSIDreamer]

Also found this very detailed long read on Maher's activities and the investigation into him in the Sunday Times from last month, behind a paywall but you can view the article for free if you register:

The EncroChat bust: how police hacked the secret gangster messaging network | The Sunday Times Magazine | The Sunday Times

That's huge!

 

[Silverlink]

27-year-old Dragos Damian has been arrested in Italy on an international arrest warrant and charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.

Man arrested and charged in Italy in connection with Essex lorry deaths

 

[Silverlink]

Stefan Damian Dragos, a 28-year-old Romanian citizen, is accused of having provided the truck that transported the migrants to England, according to a police statement.

Dragos, who was detained by police in Milan on a UK arrest warrant, “belongs to a criminal organisation dedicated to illegal immigration”, it added.

Man held in Italy over UK Vietnamese migrant deaths

There was no immediate statement from the suspect or from any lawyer representing him. He was arrested in the town of Cinisello Balsamo, north of Milan, but police gave no further details.

Italian police arrest man allegedly involved in Vietnamese truck deaths

 

[Silverlink]

Dragos S. Damian
Login • Instagram

This is him, I spotted these profiles last night and he's clearly had someone delete all the pics from the Instagram since.

 

[CaptainNancy]

Stefan Damian Dragos, a 28-year-old Romanian citizen, is accused of having provided the truck that transported the migrants to England, according to a police statement.

That’s curious. I thought both tractor units belonged to RH (MR’s one possibly on some sort of loan or purchase arrangement) and the trailer hired?

But Dragos was a significant missing link, so this is good news.

 

[Ched]

Italy: Police arrest truck owner over Vietnamese migrant deaths
Police in Italy say they have arrested a man wanted by Britain in connection with a people-smuggling plot that led to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in 2019.

Authorities detained Stefan D., a Romanian national, on Saturday in the town of Cinisello Balsamo, near the north Italian city of Milan.

 

[Silverlink]

A man wanted in connection with the smuggling of 39 migrants found dead in a lorry in Essex has been arrested on Teesside.

The Vietnamese national, who at this stage is not being named, was detained by the National Crime Agency at a supermarket petrol station just off the A66 in Middlesbrough around 1pm on Thursday.

The man is wanted by the Belgian authorities who allege he was a member of a people smuggling network moving migrants through Belgium and France and into the UK in the back of lorries.

Man arrested on Teesside over deaths of 39 migrants in lorry in Essex

 

[Silverlink]

That’s curious. I thought both tractor units belonged to RH (MR’s one possibly on some sort of loan or purchase arrangement) and the trailer hired?

But Dragos was a significant missing link, so this is good news.

Both belonged to Hughes, yes. The blue one driven by Harrison was a right hand drive so will have been sourced in Ireland or the UK. As we know, Mo's truck was purchased from Thomas Maher, before that it belonged to Dutch firm Edwin Kluft Transport. The trailer was hired from GTR in Ronan Hughes' name.

I'm guessing that 'providing the truck' could mean providing migrants to be transported, arranging collection times etc.

 

[Silverlink]

"The individual detained today is suspected by the Belgian authorities of having played a key role in placing at least 10 migrants inside that lorry. Working closely with partners in the UK, Europe and beyond we are determined to do all we can to get justice for the families of those who died, and disrupt and dismantle the cruel organised criminal networks involved in people-smuggling" - Miles Bonfield, NCA

Essex lorry deaths: Man arrested in connection with deaths of 39 migrants | ITV News

 

[CaptainNancy]

Great ongoing work by the various agencies.

it doesn’t yet sound as if they have caught the significant so called ‘Fong’ (I think) , considered a key link in providing the safe houses in Dulwich.