Two drug barons who tried to smuggle a ‘colossal amount’ of MDMA into Australia have been caught after some very basic blunders. Stefan Baldauf, 64, and Philip Lawson, 63, were part of an organised crime group that planned to ship nearly half a tonne of ecstasy with an estimated street value of £44 million into the country.
Image Credit: Metro [Stefan Baldauf's accidental selfie. SWMRdog. A drugs trafficker helped investigators smash his own organised crime group by sending a photograph of his dog on encrypted communications platform EncroChat showing his partner?s phone number on the animal?s tag. Danny Brown, 55, operated on EncroChat under the handle ?throwthedice?. He sent an image of his pet, named ?Bob?, to co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf, 62, as they worked on a plot to send 448 kilos of MDMA worth ?45m to Australia. National Crime Agency investigators zoomed in on the phone number and used it ? among many other tactics in a painstaking investigation - to prove Brown was part of the conspiracy.]
But the plot fell apart when co-conspirator Danny Brown sent Baldauf a picture of his French bulldog Bob, with his partner’s phone number on its tag. Investigators zoomed in on the number and used it, among other evidence, to prove Brown, 57, of Bromley, southeast London, was part of the conspiracy.
Image Credit: Metro [X-ray of the excavator which was used to try and smuggle drugs. SWMRdog. A drugs trafficker helped investigators smash his own organised crime group by sending a photograph of his dog on encrypted communications platform EncroChat showing his partner?s phone number on the animal?s tag. Danny Brown, 55, operated on EncroChat under the handle ?throwthedice?. He sent an image of his pet, named ?Bob?, to co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf, 62, as they worked on a plot to send 448 kilos of MDMA worth ?45m to Australia. National Crime Agency investigators zoomed in on the phone number and used it ? among many other tactics in a painstaking investigation - to prove Brown was part of the conspiracy.]
Baldauf, of Ealing, west London, also sent an image on EncroChat which showed his reflection in a brass door sign. On Monday at Kingston Crown Court, Baldauf, who was jailed for 28 years in December 2022, was ordered to pay £1,007,637, the national law enforcement agency said.
Image Credit: Metro [Stefan Baldauf, member of organised crime group which sent a digger containing ?45m worth of MSMA to Australia. Release date December 3 2024. A member of an organised crime group who sent ?45m worth of MDMA to Australia in a digger has been jailed for 23 years. William Sartin, 63, was convicted of transporting a Class A drug in September and sentenced to 23 years in prison today (December 3) at Kingston Crown Court. Sartin was part of a group who hid MDMA in the arm of an industrial digger and organised an online auction to make the excavator's arrival in Australia look legitimate.]
He has three months to hand the money over or will receive an extra seven years in jail. Lawson, who designed the drugs hide in the digger and arranged a welder to cut it open and then seal the digger, was sentenced to 23 years, according to the NCA. He was ordered to pay £182,476. He also has three months to pay or will have three years added to his jail sentence.
Image Credit: Metro [Philip Lawson, member of organised crime group which sent a digger containing ?45m worth of MSMA to Australia. Release date December 3 2024. A member of an organised crime group who sent ?45m worth of MDMA to Australia in a digger has been jailed for 23 years. William Sartin, 63, was convicted of transporting a Class A drug in September and sentenced to 23 years in prison today (December 3) at Kingston Crown Court. Sartin was part of a group who hid MDMA in the arm of an industrial digger and organised an online auction to make the excavator's arrival in Australia look legitimate.]
Brown, who was jailed for 26 years, will face a confiscation hearing later in the year along with another of the group, William Sartin, 63, of Basildon, Essex. The NCA said the excavator was hidden in Sartin’s industrial unit. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
![[Stefan Baldauf's accidental selfie. SWMRdog. A drugs trafficker helped investigators smash his own organised crime group by sending a photograph of his dog on encrypted communications platform EncroChat showing his partner?s phone number on the animal?s tag. Danny Brown, 55, operated on EncroChat under the handle ?throwthedice?. He sent an image of his pet, named ?Bob?, to co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf, 62, as they worked on a plot to send 448 kilos of MDMA worth ?45m to Australia. National Crime Agency investigators zoomed in on the phone number and used it ? among many other tactics in a painstaking investigation - to prove Brown was part of the conspiracy.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_136586556-ea24-e1737534922328.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=264)
![[X-ray of the excavator which was used to try and smuggle drugs. SWMRdog. A drugs trafficker helped investigators smash his own organised crime group by sending a photograph of his dog on encrypted communications platform EncroChat showing his partner?s phone number on the animal?s tag. Danny Brown, 55, operated on EncroChat under the handle ?throwthedice?. He sent an image of his pet, named ?Bob?, to co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf, 62, as they worked on a plot to send 448 kilos of MDMA worth ?45m to Australia. National Crime Agency investigators zoomed in on the phone number and used it ? among many other tactics in a painstaking investigation - to prove Brown was part of the conspiracy.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_136586499-a945.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
![[Stefan Baldauf, member of organised crime group which sent a digger containing ?45m worth of MSMA to Australia. Release date December 3 2024. A member of an organised crime group who sent ?45m worth of MDMA to Australia in a digger has been jailed for 23 years. William Sartin, 63, was convicted of transporting a Class A drug in September and sentenced to 23 years in prison today (December 3) at Kingston Crown Court. Sartin was part of a group who hid MDMA in the arm of an industrial digger and organised an online auction to make the excavator's arrival in Australia look legitimate.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_231814184-9fd2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=557)
![[Philip Lawson, member of organised crime group which sent a digger containing ?45m worth of MSMA to Australia. Release date December 3 2024. A member of an organised crime group who sent ?45m worth of MDMA to Australia in a digger has been jailed for 23 years. William Sartin, 63, was convicted of transporting a Class A drug in September and sentenced to 23 years in prison today (December 3) at Kingston Crown Court. Sartin was part of a group who hid MDMA in the arm of an industrial digger and organised an online auction to make the excavator's arrival in Australia look legitimate.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_231814209-e886.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=334)
