ENCROCHAT: Young couple from leafy Essex village convicted over multi-million pound drug supply operation.

On the surface they looked like any other young Essex couple.

But there was a reason why jobless Samuel De Vere-Hunt and his £13-an-hour receptionist girlfriend Rosie Wise were living in luxury in leafy Kelvedon Hatch, near Brentwood.

The pair were involved in a multi-million pound drug and money laundering operation and covering their tracks via the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone system, which was busted by French cyber police in 2020.

Unassuming looking De Vere-Hunt, 30 (12.08.1995) of School Road, Kelvedon Hatch, who was caught leaving his home with more than £160,000 of cash in a carrier bag, was actually a drug kingpin responsible for laundering over £6 million in cash and supplying hundreds of kilos of MDMA, ketamine and cannabis destined for London.

He was sentenced on Friday, 30 January 2026 at Kingston Crown Court, to 12 years’ imprisonment.

His girlfriend and accomplice, Wise, 25 (16.11.2000), of the same address, was also sentenced to one year and nine months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Officers conducted a thorough investigation piecing together evidence and painstakingly trawled through thousands of messages on encrypted communication service Encrochat. This identified an individual using the operating handles Modernfeet and Immaculatetractor, who was seen to move millions of pounds of cash and multi kilo amounts of ketamine and cannabis. Through this work this user was identified as De Vere-Hunt.

Despite attempts to remain hidden and conceal his identity, officers were ultimately able to establish De Vere-Hunt was in a relationship with Wise and tracked their address in Brentwood through various methods including phone data and food deliveries made to the pair.

This case is just one example of the Met’s work to tackle serious and organised crime groups with these gangs disrupted more than 21,230 times in London last year — a 63 percent rise on the previous year. This includes seizures as well as the arrest, charge and prosecution of criminals.

PC Bob Rosie from the Specialist Crime Developing Threats Team , who led the investigation for the Met, said: “Investigating De Vere-Hunt was like finding a needle in a haystack. He has been brought to justice today 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.”

Following an investigation into a series of conversations on EncroChat, a user with the handle “Modernfeet” and “Immaculatetractor”, was shown to be directly involved in the laundering of millions of pounds.

Investigators established the unnamed user was a trusted member of an organised crime group. Messages showed that between March 2020 and June 2020 alone they had been involved in moving £3.5 million in cash and deals of cannabis and ketamine.

Detailed work identified De Vere-Hunt as this Encrochat user, with locating his current address then becoming the priority. Ultimately officers were led to an address in Kelvedon Hatch and plans were made to execute a search warrant. Before plans could be fully put in place, it was found out that De Vere-Hunt had checked in for a flight out of the UK and officers quickly carried out a warrant at his address on the morning of Thursday, 9 January 2025.

At this address they found a haul of drugs and cash. Including 15kg of ketamine, 12kg of cannabis and over 6kg of Class A drugs made up of MDMA and 2C-B. More than £179,000 cash was also found throughout the property and seized.

De Vere-Hunt was arrested by officers as he walked out of his address with two boxes containing £160,000 in criminal cash.

Once in custody and when officers analysed De Vere-Hunt’s current phone they evidenced a separate period of offending from September 2024 – January 2025 when he had moved a further £2.8 million in cash and supplied over a quarter of a tonne of ketamine and cannabis. In just five months the street value of this alone was £6 million.

Over several years, the couple were able to live an extravagant lifestyle, including luxury holidays in Portugal, Ibiza, Los Angeles and Mykonos, as well as owning designer items such as a Rolex watch.

This is despite De Vere-Hunt being unemployed and Wise working as a receptionist earning £13 an hour.

EncroChat was an encrypted communications platform used by organised criminals who believed the system was secure from law‑enforcement detection.

The service offered modified mobile devices with encrypted messaging that allowed offenders to coordinate drug supply, violent crime and wider criminal operations. European agencies cracked the platform in 2020.

List of charges

De Vere-Hunt pleaded guilty to the following charges at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 27 March 2025:

• Two counts of conspiracy to conceal criminal property

• Two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs

• Three counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs

• Four counts of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs

• Possession of criminal property

Wise initially pleaded not guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and possessing criminal property at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, 27 March 2025.

Following further evidence being served from Wise’s phone, she later changed her plea to guilty on Wednesday, 25 June 2025 at the same court.