A British drug kingpin who fled to Spain has been handed a collective 28-year prison sentence alongside his criminal network after masterminding a £3.75 million drugs and firearms conspiracy. Forty-one-year-old Craig Bennett was extradited back to the UK to face justice following an extensive international law enforcement operation that penetrated the encrypted communications his gang relied upon.

According to the National Crime Agency, Bennett sat at the head of an organised crime group that oversaw the acquisition and supply of 91.8 kilos of Class A and Class B drugs. The illicit shipments uncovered by investigators included substantial quantities of cocaine, ketamine, cannabis, and hash, flooding local communities with millions of pounds worth of narcotics.

The criminality went beyond dangerous drugs. Intercepted evidence recovered from Bennett's phone confirmed he was also actively trafficking lethal weaponry, having arranged the movement of two firearms, ammunition, and a component part in the form of a silencer, proving what investigators identified as lethal intent.

The breakthrough in the case came through Operation Venetic after international law enforcement successfully infiltrated the Encrochat encrypted communications network back in 2020. The platform, which criminals used to communicate anonymously under disguised aliases, gave NCA officers access to millions of messages, allowing them to examine communications between Bennett and his crew from March to June 2020 to build a complete picture of the enterprise.

Those messages revealed Bennett acting as a central broker who coordinated handovers between suppliers and clients while taking a portion of the sale price as payment. To manage the logistics, he exchanged passwords, meeting locations, timings, and vehicle details, using the platform to direct couriers Gerald Tohill, 60, from Berkshire, and 38-year-old Lucien Robinson, from Wokingham, across Berkshire to collect and distribute drugs and illicit cash.

The operation also involved family ties to handle the profits. Lucien Robinson's father, 75-year-old Peter Robinson from Berkshire, was brought into the fold to assist the criminal enterprise by hiding large amounts of the gang's dirty cash.

Bennett attempted to evade justice by fleeing to Spain, but in July 2025, officers from the Policía Nacional moved in to arrest him in Barcelona during an operation supported by NCA International Liaison Officers. Following his arrest, Bennett was extradited to the UK in August 2025, while his co-defendants were summoned to court as part of the proceedings.

At Reading Crown Court, Bennett, Lucien Robinson, and Peter Robinson pleaded guilty to their offences in late 2025, while Tohill was convicted following a trial. Peter Robinson received his sentence on 1 June, and the remaining three men were sentenced on 21 July, receiving a combined total of 28 years behind bars.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer John Turner highlighted the severity of the group's actions, noting that Bennett was the linchpin of the conspiracy to bring harmful drugs and potentially deadly weapons into the country, with every member profiting from the damage caused to communities. Turner made clear that criminals who relied on Encrochat were never beyond the reach of the law, reaffirming that the NCA and its partners will continue tracking down serious offenders.

While the specific individual breakdown of each man's prison sentence has not been detailed beyond their collective 28-year total, this cross-border operation shows the long reach of law enforcement targeting illicit networks. As authorities continue to pursue offenders who rely on encrypted platforms, I'll be following this one.