Ex-Atlético Madrid star, 34, who flooded London with cocaine, ketamine and cannabis in £3m trade using EncroChat messaging system is jailed for more than 11 years
A Gibraltar football international who flooded London with cocaine, ketamine and cannabis has been jailed for more than 11 years.
Former Atlético Madrid youth player Jason Pusey, 34, was caught after police cracked the EncroChat messaging system favoured by criminals in the UK.
The centre back, who won four caps for his national side, used the handle 'IrregularFog' on the encrypted app to supply drugs worth £3m through a network of London based dealers.
Pusey was investigated in June 2020 after Encrochat was taken down after an international police operation.
Messages retrieved from his phone related to the importation of class A drugs into the UK as well as the routes used by an army of smugglers and couriers in early 2020.
Jason Pusey, 34, was jailed for supplying £3 million worth of drugs to dealers in south London
Pusey was investigated in June 2020 after Encrochat was taken down by police forces
Pusey was jailed after he was linked to the sale of 447kg of cannabis
He was also found to have been supplying 107kg of cocaine and 235kg of ketamine
Pusey was arrested at his home in Market Weighton, York, on 20 June last year.
He was jailed for a total of 11 years and three months after he admitted conspiracy to supply 107kg of cocaine, 235kg of ketamine, and 447kg of cannabis at Kingston-Upon-Hull Crown Court.
Pusey began his career at Atlético Madrid C in 2007 and also played for Cádiz B in Spain and Lions Gibraltar.
The defender made his debut for Gibraltar against Bosnia on 25 March 2017 then made further appearances in the country's maiden world cup qualification campaign.
Detective Constable Duncan Askew, responsible for the investigation from the Met's Specialist Crime team, said: 'Pusey arranged large-scale drug deals while also maintaining a well-respected football career.
'On the surface he appeared as a doting family man - but he was making millions sending commercial scale amounts of controlled drugs to south London gangs. He did this all with no thought of the misery and devastation caused in London communities by drug supply, and the violence it leads to.
Pusey, in the white kit, playing for Gilbraltar before his hidden life emerged
When Pusey was arrested police found stashes of money at his home address in York.
'Operation Eternal investigations over the last three years have resulted in the Met identifying and jailing major players in the criminal fraternity, and stemming the flow of drugs and guns onto the streets.
'The drugs trade relies upon exploitation and violence to operate and we will continue to relentlessly pursue those involved, and put them before the courts.'
EncroChat became a standard messaging platform for organised crime, where criminals made about massive drug deals, laundered money, and discussed extortion, kidnapping and assassinations.
The app was taken down after an operation between the NCA - dubbed Britain's FBI - the French National Gendarmerie and Dutch police in April 2020.
