Joseph Toole, 55, of Aysgarth Avenue, West Derby and Lawrence Hill, 52, of Longmeadow Road, Knowsley Village were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. They pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin) and Class B drugs (cannabis). Their arrests were part of Merseyside Police’s response to Operation Venetic: an international operation targeting criminals who used the Encrochat mobile encryption service in an attempt to evade detection. Hill used the Encrochat handle ‘FROSTY-HAND’ and worked in a role delivering drugs under the instruction of Toole between December 2019 and July 2020. He conspired to supply of 373kg of Class A drugs, namely 262kg’s of Cocaine and 111kg of Heroin.