The 27-year-old has been locked up for 16 years while his accomplice, 43-year-old Waheed Zaman, was sentenced to 22 years. The pair were caught out following the law enforcement hacking of the EncroChat network, an encrypted communications system often dubbed 'WhatsApp for criminals.
Police did not recover the machine gun, but they said the pair's messages on EncroChat provided a 'wealth of evidence' to reveal their underworld activities. Bashir, of Parrs Wood Road, used the handle 'Blackskull' but he later changed it to 'Louis Vuitton.com, the National Crime Agency said.
Zaman, from Walsall, was known as 'Naturalmist! In April 2020 Bashir replied to Zaman saying: "Who you got the scorp off bro." Zaman then asked him if he'd had 'any joy with sweets, a codename for bullets.
This story is from the October 01, 2023 edition of MEN on Sunday.
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This story is from the October 01, 2023 edition of MEN on Sunday.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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