In the luxury of a swanky flat in Barcelona, he hid behind the protective screen of an encrypted phone. His dark past had earned him infamy.

Tapping away on the device, he thought he was unstoppable.

Organising hits on criminal opponents and buying and selling drugs and weapons with ease, Jamie Rothwell was able to command his crew at the touch of a few buttons.

But it all came crashing down when European law enforcement infiltrated the EncroChat system, revealing a treasure trove of damning messages.

When devices accepted an 'update', it allowed for messages to be shared with police in real time. Officers had limited time and access - just 74 days - before the system’s users were alerted to the breach and advised to destroy their devices.

For Rothwell, his messages were incriminating

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