Pigeon fancier’s drug dealing operation busted after love of birds gave away location

Stephen Gildea was jailed for 11 years after Merseyside Police cracked down on his operation

The 37-year-old was arrested in April 2022 (Merseyside Police)

A pigeon fancier’s drug dealing operation was busted by police after his love of birds gave away the location of his loft.

Stephen Gildea, 37, was caught after police tracked down his home after he shared pictures of his bird loft to gang members on an encrypted messaging service.

He was jailed for 11 years and three months at Liverpool Crown Court on 7 February after he admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.

He admitted to being involved in the trafficking of dangerous drugs in 2020, after being arrested in April 2022.

The encrypted messaging service Gildea used was taken down in 2020 (Merseyside Police)

Gildea, from Aintree, Liverpool, had used an encrypted communication service called EncroChat - which was taken down in 2020 - to run his drugs scheme.

The service was used as a secret communications system by organized crime members to plan criminal activities, and trade drugs and guns.

Physical modifications were made to mobile phones to allow for the system to run without being tracked. This included removing the camera, microphone, GPS transponder, and USB port.

Gildea operated under handles such as ‘frosty-hill’ on the encrypted software (Merseyside Police)

Following a crackdown, which was a Europe-wide investigation, the service provider was infiltrated by police and was shut down.

On the site, Gildea operated under the handles ‘frosty-hill’ and ‘wuhan-who’, where he referenced his love of pigeon racing in the messages and images that he sent.

After foolishly sharing pictures of his pigeon loft in the encrypted messages, officers were able to identify his home.

The force said he “referenced his love of pigeon racing in messages and images ... which allowed officers to identify his home address and his pigeon loft”.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Peter McCullough said: “Gildea, like many offenders before him, thought he was hiding behind a secure communications system. Instead, he collected damning evidence of his own large-scale drug supply and will face a long spell in prison.

“Those who supply drugs across Merseyside and beyond cause incalculable harm, and we will continue to see offenders passing through the courts in days and weeks to come. Each person jailed makes our communities safer.”