A former Berlin entrepreneur has been sentenced to six years and seven months in prison for smuggling around 1.6 tons of drugs from Spain to Berlin. The regional court in the capital found the 49-year-old guilty of illegal importation and trafficking in narcotics. The confiscation of crime amounts of around 5.6 million euros was ordered.

In 18 cases between August 2019 and November 2021, the defendant smuggled in hashish and marijuana from Spain in order to sell the drugs in Germany, stubbornly and in “blatant amounts”, according to the verdict.

He partly transported the narcotics himself, partly he organized the smuggling via an import and export company. He also used the crypto messenger service Encrochat for the illegal business.

The encryption software was initially considered indecipherable and was therefore very popular with criminals. The police in the Netherlands and France nevertheless managed to crack the software in spring 2020. Millions of secret data were siphoned off. This led to numerous arrests across Europe.

The accused had fully confessed. Unfortunately, because he was no longer as successful as an entrepreneur and he didn’t want to be the “loser father” of his children, he started dealing drugs.

[If you want to have all the latest news live on your mobile phone, we recommend our app, which you can download here for Apple and Android devices.]

He led a double life – “after separating from my wife, I was left with nothing,” said the 49-year-old. The smuggling of drugs was a “fatal decision” that he now had to pay bitterly.