KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 ― Using colourful lights, golden baubles and branches dripping with Santas and reindeer to decorate a Christmas tree proved to be too ordinary for a Merseyside drug dealer.

Instead, Martin Porcelli decided to use £20 (RM112) notes and bags of white powder to decorate the tree for the Yuletide season.

A photograph of the unique tree was found by police in Porcelli's phone when he was arrested as part of a year-long investigation into a crime gang in Merseyside.

 

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“We caught Porcelli as part of Operation Overboard, which is apt as that’s how we’d describe the Christmas décor snapped on his phone (what’s wrong with a nice spruce with some simple baubles and tinsel?),” Merseyside police said in a tweet.

“We also caught eight other (un)wise men as part of Overboard and found lots of interesting parcels under the tree (as well as in other parts of their houses), namely drugs worth £1.3m (RM7.31 million).”

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The nine gang members have since been sentenced to more than 89 years in prison in total at the Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

According to Metro UK, police discovered four of the defendants were using Encrochat on the dark web to hide their dealings.

Four of the suspects, Steven Sinclair, Thomas O’Brien, David Conroy and Kieran Meehan went to trial but were found guilty by a jury.

The other five offenders ― Sean Burrell, James Wright, Martin McCoy, Michael Joseph and Porcelli ― pleaded guilty.

During the investigations, police seized more than £282,500 (RM1.59 million) of cash, firearms and ammunition and a substantial amount of Class A drugs which was said to have a street value of more than £1.3 million.

This is not the first time drugs have featured in festive decorations.

In 2016, police found ganja plants next to a Christmas tree, which even had an angel posed at the top.