An MMA fighter known as the “Italian Stallion” has been jailed for 15 years and five months for drugs and firearms offences.
Pietro Menga had a day job as an MMA fighter, even signing for UFC, but Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said he also had a “lucrative job as a middleman for an organised crime group”.
The force said Menga was involved in sourcing “large quantities of cocaine”.
On Tuesday, the former fighter was jailed after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to supply cocaine.
GMP officers became aware of Menga after the National Crime Agency infiltrated the once encrypted messaging platform EncroChat.
The 37-year-old was identified through messages where he openly discussed his girlfriend, his knee injuries from fighting and his home gym.
Under the username “wirelessshark”, Menga also openly spoke about buying and selling drugs and guns.
He was involved in an estimated sale of drugs worth between £490,000 to £620,000, police said.
‘Always good for a rainy day’
In one message, Menga refers to a Skorpion automatic machine gun as a “tastey [sic] bit of kit”, adding the weapon was “always good for a rainy day”.
Officers discovered several similar conversations of this nature, with Menga trying to source guns for others.
Menga was arrested on 15 January 2024.
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EncroChat crackdown
Menga’s arrest comes as part of GMP’s response to the national takedown of EncroChat.
It came under Operation Foam, which has seen more than 300 arrests, with more possible.
GMP said it had arrested “kingpins”, as well as “middle-tier criminals”.
Detective Constable Shiels from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group said: “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.”
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