Carl Stewart was involved in supplying large amounts of class A and B drugs, but was caught out by his love of Stilton cheese, after sharing a picture of a block of it in his hand through EncroChat, said Detective Inspector Lee Wilkinson in a statement at the end of last week. His palm and fingerprints were analyzed from this picture and it was established they belonged to Stewart.
Wilkinson said the EncroChat takedown, known as Operation Venetic, has led Merseyside Police to arrest more than 60 people, many of whom face charges for drug trafficking or firearms offenses.
The photo of the cheese that led to Carl Stewart s conviction . Source: Merseyside Police
Drug dealer jailed after sharing a photo of cheese that included his fingerprints
By Rob Picheta, CNN
The block of mature blue cheese that proved Carl Stewart s undoing. (CNN)A drug dealer whose fingerprints were analyzed by police when he shared a photo of his hand holding a block of cheese has been sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison.
Carl Stewart, 39, from Liverpool, northwestern England, sent a picture on an encrypted device of a block of Stilton he had found in upmarket British grocery store Marks & Spencer, Merseyside Police said in a press release.
But the photograph was discovered by police, who used it to analyze his fingerprints and identify Stewart.
Cheese-loving drug dealer jailed after police spot his fingerprints in a picture of a block of Stilton
May 25, 2021 7:35 AM CNN
Merseyside Police
(CNN) A drug dealer whose fingerprints were analyzed by police when he shared a photo of his hand holding a block of cheese has been sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison.
Carl Stewart, 39, from Liverpool, northwestern England, sent a picture on an encrypted device of a block of Stilton he had found in upmarket British grocery store Marks & Spencer, Merseyside Police said in a press release.
But the photograph was discovered by police, who used it to analyze his fingerprints and identify Stewart.
By Bill Galluccio
May 25, 2021
A drug dealer from the United Kingdom was nabbed by authorities because he shared a photo of a block of cheese. The Merseyside Police Department said that
Carl Stewart, 39, was shopping at a grocery store and shared a picture of himself holding a package of Stilton cheese.
Stewart shared the image using EncroChat, an encrypted messaging service used by criminals. He didn t realize that authorities infiltrated the platform last year, allowing them to see the messages that he was sending. When detectives saw the photo, they were able to enhance it and analyze Stewart s fingerprints and palm prints to identify him.