Overview
- Liverpool Crown Court sentenced the 63-year-old for leading roles in supplying cocaine and ketamine and converting criminal property.
- The Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership and NCA traced the EncroChat handle "Dillforest" to Ventre using a club-linked password plus his birth date, postcode and family references.
- Messages showed offers, delivery directions and drug photos that evidenced a broker-level operation using couriers and occasional personal deliveries.
- Prosecutors said the plot covered about 1kg of cocaine and 63kg of ketamine worth £479,500, with £320,125 laundered.
- Police arrested him on 25 November 2025, he pleaded guilty on 10 December 2025, and two further counts were ordered to lie on file.