Aaron Bradford has been jailed for 8 years after he was caught supplying Scotland with cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis laced ‘Wonka’ chocolate bars.

The court heard how police had recovered messages from an encrypted communication network called EncroChat. In the messages he was discussing the details of a £17,000 drug deal. 

Encrochat allows protected communications to be sent between involved parties. The messages also disappear from both devices after a set period of time. It also has a feature that allows for the phone to be wiped if a pin number, provided by the user, was entered into the device by police.

Bradford came to the attention of the authorities after French agencies recovered a massive haul of data from the secretive communication network.

As part of investigations, police raised his home in June 2022 where drugs and associated articles including a blender, digital scales, a hydraulic press as well as a list which showed outstanding debts and deal amounts alongside a list of names were recovered. 

Bradford is the first Scottish man to be convicted as part of a wider police operation.

Bradford has been sentenced to 8 years in prison.