The truck boss leading a double life as a drug baron exposed after 39 people were found dead

It is a modest three bedroom single family home.

But parked in the driveway at various points were a Range Rover, a Land Rover, a sleek black Mercedes GLS worth £ 150,000, a BMW and an imported Corvette worth £ 70,000.

How does the head of a transport company assemble such a variety of wheels?

Inside the house, on a modern estate in a suburb, were works of art, including a world map made of bullets.

The occupant also owned around £ 600,000 worth of watches. He made a splash during the holidays, spending £ 70,000 on holidays in about three years.

I would fly to Dubai, Mexico and New York, business class or first class. He hired a private helicopter in New York.

In Dubai, he bought art. One piece costs £ 20,000.

While staying at his property in Spain, a small apartment, he was driving a Porsche Cayenne.

Behind the mask of owning a legitimate transportation company, Thomas Maher hid a dark secret.

The result was her eye-catching lifestyle adornments.

From the couch in his Wiltshire Close home in Woolston, Warrington, Maher was conducting up to a dozen conversations a day using the encrypted ‘EncroChat’ communications network.

He played a key role as a “professional facilitator,” say police, providing transport and contacts for a smuggling operation across Europe, bringing drugs, including cocaine, to Ireland.

His handles, while using the encrypted messaging platform to seal deals, were ‘Satirical’ and then ‘Snacker’; the latter is believed to have been related to his habit of receiving take-out food delivered to his door when it was closed.

His downfall was due to the tragic discovery of 39 Vietnamese who tragically suffocated a truck in Essex.

His home in Woolston was raided after the terrible find in October 2019, as the tractor unit involved was at one time his property.

Maher has not faced any action in connection with that investigation and there is no indication that he was involved in that criminal enterprise.

However, that investigation triggered a financial investigation by the National Crime Agency into Maher. They were tipped off by the Essex police that they suspected his generous spending.

When investigators hacked into the EncroChat system earlier this year, the police were able to retrieve Maher’s messages.

They revealed that the father of three was a key player in a drug and “dirty money” smuggling operation.

The NCA put Maher under surveillance for seven months while he met with associates at hotels.

Gavin Heckles, NCA Operations Manager, said: “Maher was exceptionally well connected with 20 years of experience operating complex international organized crime groups. He was connected to all elements of organized crime, like that middle man. He would be the person. to put people in contact “.

Police believe that, acting under the auspices of his own transport company, Maher would move drugs and money from Turkey and Bulgaria through the Netherlands and Denmark to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The NCA also suspects that he had a network of corrupt officials in different countries and direct ties to the Colombian drug cartels.

Encrochat’s messages showed that in April 2020 he orchestrated the collection and delivery of at least 21 kilos of cocaine from the Netherlands.

The associates informed Maher when the drugs were collected, transported and reached their final destination in Ireland.

On April 2, there was an exchange in a garage in Lierop, the Netherlands. Police say 11 kilos of cocaine were passed between two vehicles.

Two days later, the arrival of the drugs was confirmed via Dunkirk to Dover and finally to Donabate, near Dublin. The messages showed that Maher had discussed splitting the profits with one of his group.

In another job, Maher arranged for 10 kilos of cocaine to be collected in an area near De Strubben in the Netherlands and shipped back to the outskirts of Dublin.

In addition to drugs, Maher also helped facilitate the movement of large sums of cash.

One of the charges refers to organizing the transport of 305,000 euros from Ireland to the Netherlands on behalf of one of his associates, from whom he charged a commission for his participation.

In May, An In May, An Garda Síochána in Drogheda, Ireland, seized another 600,000 euros in transit and arrested three people. Maher organized the movement of the cash.

Maher admitted two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad, namely, importation of Class A drugs; and two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad, namely, criminal property transfer.

He pleaded not guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit a crime abroad, that of conspiracy to cause serious bodily harm to human trafficker Ronan Hughes, in Ireland last April.

Maher was suspected of planning an attack on Hughes after discovering that the tractor unit used in trafficking the Vietnamese who died had been falsely registered in his name. This charge will not be prosecuted, the court heard and will remain on the record.

Transport chief Hughes, 41, of Monaghan County, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey earlier this year to 39 counts of involuntary manslaughter following the deaths of the Vietnamese people. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid illegal immigration. He must be sentenced in January.

At Liverpool Crown Court today, Maher was jailed for a total of 14 years and 8 months for the two drug charges and four years for the two money laundering charges, which were executed simultaneously.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, told Maher that he would get the maximum reduction of one third from his sentence, which would have been 22 years, due to his guilty plea and cooperation with investigating officers. He will serve half his sentence.

NCA branch commander Martin Clarke, commenting on Maher and his fellow drug and cash traffickers, said: “What is clear is that they had absolute confidence in the protected nature of EncroChat.”

Police recovered 10,000 messages via EncroChat involving Maher during the period he was under investigation, an indication of how prolific his activities were.

In a message sent through the secret system, Maher boasted of his industry experience and knowledge of which ports are the best to smuggle, saying, “I’ve been in this game for the past 20 odd years, buddy, I’m not at night, I know the way to play. “

The smugglers would speak using the penal code known as ‘rocker’.

Cocaine, for example, would be called ‘tops’ or ‘colo’, which means high purity product, directly from Columbia. The heroine would be “bottoms” as on the bottom shelf. “The floor” is believed to mean Amsterdam.

Due to their belief that EncroChat was secure, they would also speak more openly.

With another unidentified contact, Maher spoke about the impact of the closure on his operations and his need for a vacation.

[REDACTED]: At least that’s how we get ahead mate. I can’t stop having to do something.

Satirical: (Maher) We’ll be grand m8 ‚as Johnny Logan said it’s another year‚ yeah, johnny one year is another

[REDACTED]: It’s in the end (sic) fuck I can’t wait to find a way to a good bud (sic)

Satirical: “Just like that friend. It’s very necessary now, isn’t it? Smart taxi work is working well right now with this guy from the floor to ours and from Belgium to ours, there are two others. And one more driver with [redacted] for Poly’s sun to flatten out and we still have [redacted] turk to flat and his men [redacted] up to here where I am. Once this m8 travel ban is lifted, we will be on the pigs because there is only a lot of taxi, plus we have the receiver here from Asia, so m8 we have much more than others, that’s a fact, it’s only going to take time, friend . we laugh

“I’m telling you that’s why I’m not stressing out yet.”

The NCA believes that the crimes Maher has been charged with are only “the tip of the iceberg” of his smuggling activities.

Commander Clarke said: “These types of criminals are professional smugglers. They have recognized the dangers involved, moving 200 to 300 kilos (of drugs) at a time through UK ports and the loss they would have to bear if it were intercepted. Now they move ten to twenty kilos, but they have three, four, five runs a week. If they lose one of those, they are happy to absorb it.

“They will often have a discussion, a briefing about an interception, what went wrong. They will try to learn and adapt their business model to prevent it from happening again.”

The NCA said that Maher had two trucks in the UK and four in Spain, but that he would also use others for drug smuggling.

Drugs and cash would be hidden in shipments of fruits, wine and vegetables in large refrigerated containers.

They say that prior to his arrest in June this year there was intelligence that he was preparing to flee the UK. “He didn’t like the attention he was getting around his tax affairs … so he left,” said Gavin Heckles of the NCA.

Maher is described by the NCA as ‘one of the most important people’ so far removed through the EncroChat cracking.

Intelligence suggested that, at the time of his arrest, Maher was negotiating a massive 400 kilogram importation of drugs from Spain to Denmark and the UK, which would have made him and someone else a profit of 800,000 euros.

Commander Clarke said: “He was an individual who could supply significant amounts of class A drugs from South America or from all over Europe to the UK.

“And it was essentially pushing a button. It was very well connected. The impact Thomas Maher had was international.”

Police believe they helped ‘more than 20’ other organized crime groups set up similar smuggling operations using trucks.

Maher is estimated to earn up to £ 30,000 a week, with only COVID limiting his activities.

Commander Clarke added: “If the restrictions had not been in place, their activity would have been much more frequent.”