Bedfordshire drug gang trying to flood the country with millions of pounds of drugs jailed
Two men at the heart of a nationwide drugs gang attempting to flood the country with millions of pounds worth of drugs have been jailed for 30 years.
Klaudio Ciobanu and Ardjan Axhame were brought to justice at Luton Crown Court on 18 August after Bedfordshire Police carried out its largest organised crime crackdown through the force's Operation Costello.
Ciobanu, 30, of Palgrave Road in Bedford, went by the alias "someblood" on encrypted communications network Encrochat.
He was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of supplying cocaine and heroin.
Messages showed the organised crime giant discussing deals to supply cocaine worth millions of pounds, helping bring around 20kg of heroin into the country from Turkey, and helping the sale of thousands of pounds' worth of cannabis.
His criminal network stretched across the country and had links across the north of England and the Midlands.
Ciobanu was also jailed for four years for the supply of cannabis, to be served at the same time as his other sentence.
In a separate investigation, Ardjan Axhame, of Stanley Street in Luton, was jailed for a decade for drug offences.
He was found guilty of two counts of being concerned in the supply of cocaine, being concerned in an offer to supply heroin and possession of false identity documents with intent.
Encrochat messages and mobile phone data showed the 28-year-old moved drugs and cash across the country including Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Cambridge, Cardiff, London and Manchester.
Investigators discovered Axhame had created a complex web of false details and aliases through foreign passports, bank accounts and mobile phone contracts.
Investigation officer Daniel Relf, from Operation Costello, said: "Drugs gangs such as these ruin lives. Men like Ciobanu, Axhame and their associates are ruthless, dangerous criminals who won’t let anyone or anything get in their way of making even more money from selling products that tear families and communities apart.
"Serious criminals like this thought they could keep their hands clean and avoid police detection by using Encrochat handsets, which cost thousands of pounds – but we have other ideas.
"Costello will continue to pursue the most serious drug dealers in our county and put them behind bars. If you are involved in this type of organised crime, you can expect a very unpleasant knock at your door from us very soon."
Costello is funded by government to crackdown on criminal gangs who use Encrochat.
The encrypted data from mobile phones used exclusively by criminals was cracked by international law enforcement in 2020.