An MMA fighter known as the ‘Italian Stallion’ from Swinton has been sentenced to over 15 years for drug and firearm offences.
Pietro Menga, 37, of Mount Street, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Menga, who will serve 15 years and five months, was arrested on 15 January 2024 and worked as a middle man for an organised crime group, making commission by sourcing large quantities of cocaine for customers across Greater Manchester.
The 37-year-old man from Swinton came to the attention of Greater Manchester Police in 2020 after the NCA infiltrated the once encrypted messaging platform service, Encrochat.
Specialist detectives in our Serious Organised Crime Group trawled through thousands of anonymous messages detailing drug deals, firearms sales, and assassination attempts, cross referencing the sporadic personal details which were discussed in and amongst the criminal business deals.
After identifying Menga through messages where he openly spoke about his girlfriend, his knee injuries from fighting, and his home gym, detectives were able to piece together evidence which demonstrated the anonymous user was in fact Menga.
Believing his messages were safe owing to the once encrypted nature the platform offered service users, Menga, using the nameless handle ‘wirelessshark’, was having frank conversations with other criminals, openly discussing the sale and purchase of wholesale amounts of drugs and firearms.
From the messages on his encrypted mobile phone, a drugs expert estimated the street sale value of drugs that Menga was involved in were worth between £490,000 to £620,000, and he showed no indication of slowing down or stepping away from the world of crime.
Further messages also showed that the MMA fighter was involved with the OCG responsible for a record-breaking firearm trafficking conspiracy, all of whom we convicted earlier this year for over 200 years.
In one conversation, he refers to the Skorpion automatic machine guns as a ‘tastey bit of kit’ that are ‘always good for a rainy day’ stating it comes with ammunition, with police also uncovering several similar conversations of this nature, with Menga attempting to source firearms for other individuals.
Following his conversations, the police executed a warrant at Menga’s home address on Mount Street in Swinton and he was arrested on 15 January 2024.
Detective Constable Shiels, of Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organised Crime Group said: “Menga, like many criminals before him, thought he was hiding behind a secure communications system. Instead, he created his own evidence trail that has led them straight to jail.
“The level that Menga operated at showed he clearly had an established list of criminal contacts, one which will have been built over several years under the radar, facilitated by the use of Encrochat.”
DC Shields continued: “I hope this result shows that we remain committed to pursuing people who think they are above the law and believe they can evade justice. We will continue to target criminals like Menga by thoroughly examining any evidence and carrying out any necessary warrants across Greater Manchester.
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