A mural of former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor, painted on the side of a house of notable cocaine baron, Ryan Palin ultimately helped to bring down the Liverpool native who is alleged to have been involved in a conspiracy to supply an estimated 700kg of cocaine.
Palin, 36, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply 700kg of cocaine, 15kg of heroin and 40kg of amphetamines during a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday. During the hearing, the jury in attendance heard how Palin was likely the owner of the EncroChat handle, ‘Titch.com’ – following a successful hacking attempt from members of French and Dutch police forces into the encrypted chat and messaging network.
A mural of Conor McGregor helped detectives bring Ryan Palin to justice
Palin, with a home address in Mereworth, Caldy, was identified as the owner of the handle, ‘Titch.com’ by detectives working the investigation, with the aforenoted mural depicting Conor McGregor, holding a glass of whiskey, sporting a UFC championship belt as well as wearing a gold crown was uploaded from Palin’s phone onto EncroChat.
During a raid on December 9. of last year, assets including £129,000 watches, and £135,000 designer clothes, as well as Rolex watches, Balenciaga clothing and Chanel handbags, were all seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Palin has ultimately been convicted following his hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, and has been sentenced to 29 years in prison following conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine.
“We welcome the verdict and sentence and now that Ryan Palin is behind bars and can no longer peddle huge amounts of drugs and misery on the streets of Merseyside and beyond,” Detective Sergeant Graeme Kehoe said following Palin’s conviction.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Palin chose to go to trial. Fortunately, the jury saw through his lies and Palin can now consider the consequences of his actions while he serves a significant time in jail.”
“Palin’s substantial sentence should serve as a stark warning to anyone involved in this criminality that there are serious consequences. We simply won’t let people live off the profits of criminality while our law-abiding communities work hard to make an honest living – we will find you and bring you to justice.” (Transcribed by Liverpool Echo)
A former two-weight UFC champion, Conor McGregor has yet to compete professionally since UFC 264 in July of last year.