A Wokingham man is amongst three to have been jailed for offences on the dark web.

At Reading Crown Court on Monday, April 8, Joe McNally, aged 33, of Park Lane, Finchampstead, Wokingham, was sentenced to 18 years and six months’ imprisonment.  

The trial and sentencing followed an investigation by officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU).

McNally was sentenced alongside Robert Brewster, aged 55, of High Road, Brent, London who was sentenced to six years and two months’ imprisonment and Benjamin Martin-Bynoe, aged 35, of Castlehaven Road, Camden who was sentenced to five years six months’ imprisonment.   

All three men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A (Cocaine), Class B (Ketamine and Cannabis) and Class C (Zopiclone).

They also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of prohibition on importation of the four drugs.

The trio were caught after enchrochat, an encrypted system, was taken down by international law enforcement as a result of Operation Venetic.

Messages then came to light between devices that related to the large scale supply of drugs on the dark web.  

An investigation conducted by officers from the dedicated Dark Web team found that these devices could be linked to McNally, Brewster and Martin-Bynoe.  

They discovered that McNally, the leader of the group, was running dark web accounts to sell large quantities of drugs.  

The drugs would be purchased using cryptocurrency and following which Brewster and Martin-Bynoe would organise packaging the orders and then sending them via Royal Mail in disguised packaging. 

When McNally was arrested, it was discovered that he was using a laptop with a USB that held software to prevent it from storing data.

On examination of the device, it was found that it contained information of customers that the drugs were being supplied to.  

Detective Inspector Rob Bryant, of SEROCU, said: “McNally, Brewster and Martin-Bynoe have all admitted their involvement in this sophisticated supply of drugs.   

“By using Enchrochat devices they attempted to evade law enforcement and hide their activity.   

“However, due to the hard work of SEROCU, especially Detective Constables’ Tracy Jones and Jo Waites, we were able to prove that these three men were linked to those devices and they will now spend time in prison.

“The supply of drugs can cause untold damage to those in our communities and we will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice."