Drug dealer who bragged of having a ’£135,000 wrist’ posed with wads of cash on Facebook

25 June 2024 , 17:59

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Luke Waters, 28, was found to have made £1.2m selling drugs (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary / SWNS)

Luke Waters, 28, was jailed for 10 years and forced to pay back almost £200,000 of the illegal cash - after gloating about his cash and luxury watches on social media

A drug dealer who raked in £1.2million by selling cocaine and heroin bragged on social media about his luxury watches and designer gear.

Luke Waters was jailed for 10 years and forced to pay back almost £200,000 of the illegal cash to police - meaning he may have to sell his luxury goods to comply with the order. The 28-year-old shared a snap of four high-end watches dubbed his “street trophies”, including a Rolex on Snapchat with the caption “£135k type of wrist”. 

He was busted after detectives found secret messages to other dealers in which he confirmed a delivery of cocaine had “landed” in the UK, as well as his offers to sell it to other dealers for around £40,000 a kilo. Cambridgeshire Police said Waters’ lavish lifestyle was funded by the drug money, which he splashed on designer clothes and Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of pounds each.

Cops also found pictures of what appeared to be Waters throwing a phone into the sea, with the caption “bye Encro”, after EncroChat was decrypted by police.

Waters was charged in December 2021 with supplying cocaine and heroin and acquiring criminal property. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for 10 years and two months in July 2022. Now, a judge at Cambridge Crown Court has ordered him to hand over £176,669.60 within three months or face another three years behind bars. £48,000 has already been seized by officers. 

Waters, who is said to have assets totalling just over £225,000, may be forced to sell his "street trophies" if he can’t pay the remaining amount. 

Detective Constable Andy MacDonald said: “This investigation began in spring 2020 which saw data uncovered following the seizure of servers linked to the EncroChat platform – a encryption tool used exclusively by criminals to communicate with each other. We obtained an abundance of evidence proving Waters generated significant amounts of money through the sale of drugs, as well as purchasing high-value items including designer clothing and Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of pounds each.

“Waters’ criminal business benefitted him to the tune of £1.2million – while he has only been ordered to pay the remaining ‘hidden’ assets of £176k, the full benefit figure will remain with him for life, meaning he will be liable to having any future assets confiscated if suitable. Half of the money will go to the government, the remainder is then split equally between the Crown Prosecution Service, His Majesty’s Court Service and police."

David Wilson