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Two West Midlands men have been jailed for trading drugs and firearms.

Max Williams from Wolverhampton and Daniel Morgan from Birmingham tried to hide their dealings by communicating behind encrypted phone chats.

They were arrested as part of West Midland Police's Operation Target, an international investigation tackling serious crime in the region.

Williams was found guilty of supplying class A and B drugs, and the supply of firearms and ammunition, and was sentenced to 24 years. Morgan pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing, and was sentenced to 15 years.

The pair used EncroChat, a phone messaging service, because they thought messages could not be seen by the police, and regularly communicated using anonymous user handles to avoid being identified.

Images found on the pair's phones included a semi-automatic pistol which was being traded along with another firearm for around £15,000, and a block of cocaine stamped with the word "Paris".

Williams was found to be a broker in firearms, ammunition and class A drugs, and the decoded messages showed he was trading in ammunition, semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons.

The trial, which concluded on 2 May, heard the men were also involved in the buying and selling large quantities of drugs, including cocaine, heroin and MDMA.

Morgan was arrested on 10 December, 2020, when cocaine and heroin valued at more than £5,000 and about £85,000 in cash was recovered at an address he was using in Tyndale Crescent, Birmingham.

Williams was arrested at his home in Sambrook Road, Wolverhampton, on 11 December 2020 and a number of phones were seized.

Det Ch Ins Peter Cooke from the force's regional organised crime unit said: "This was a highly intricate investigation which has seen us break up a supply chain of both firearms and drugs.

"Our commitment to removing guns and drugs from our streets as Op Target continues force-wide."

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