Gun runner carrying deadly automatic pistol pulled over by armed police in Leeds

Drug dealer Michael Derrane, 38, was arrested by armed officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) in Tingley on April 22, 2020. They were acting on intelligence gathered through EncroChat – a platform used by professional criminals to communicate in secret, but was cracked by officers in France in early 2020 allowing the police to tap into the chats.

During the search of Derrane’s car, they recovered the pistol – that was converted to fire fully automatic – as well as ammunition, just under 2kg of skunk cannabis and £6,000 cash.

The NCA said that Derrane, who lives in Morpeth in Northumberland had “orchestrated, supplied and transferred firearms and multiple kilos of class A and B drugs wholesale, selling them on to criminals for a profit”.

Evidence from the encrypted messages showed Derrane was well known to serious organised crime groups in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, the Midlands, and London and would travel up to 700 miles to exchange illicit goods.

In one series of messages he discussed the sale of 30 kilos of heroin split between locations in London, Leicester and Oxford.

He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court today to 19 years and two months imprisonment after he had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

The NCA launched its investigation in 2020 as part of Operation Venetic – the UK law enforcement response to the takedown of encrypted global communications service EncroChat.

On July 2, 2020, Alsi Vata, 26, had conspired with Derrane to buy the firearm he had in his car. He was detained by NCA officers in the presence of the former Home Secretary as he left an apartment in Soho, London.

Messages analysed provided evidence of their plans. Using the handle ‘Budplug’, Vata sent a message to Derrane in April 2020 requesting firearms.

Derrane, who used the handle ‘Big Corey’, responded, saying: “They in Spain until we start sending again I can’t get em you got enough kill someone only need one in right place.”

In another message, Derrane references a dispute he has over drugs and money with another man, saying: “That’s all they have to wait and I just need two bullets in a gun.”

Vata, from London, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, possession of a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis.

He was sentenced to 14 years and three months alongside Derrane today.

Adrian Barnard, the NCA SIO, said: “Today’s sentencing is testament to the hard work of law enforcement in relentlessly pursuing those who deal in lethal firearms. Messages clearly showed that Derrane was a dangerous person, whose access to weaponry gave him status among organised crime groups on a national scale.

“The levels of violence and exploitation that are linked to illegal drugs and firearms in the UK is undeniable and, not only are we going after the criminal kingpins, we’re disrupting those middle-tier criminals before they can make their way up the chain and cause even greater harm.”