Crime World
Episode 1363: 'The Family' boss Brian Grendon charged with directing organised drug gang
26 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What are the charges against Brian Grendon in Dublin?
He's accused of directing the activities of criminal organisation, these charges are long, in the importation and distribution of controlled drugs and the money laundering of the proceeds of the sale of those drugs. But the charge relates to a particular period of alleged offending. And so that is the period around which there was a hack into an encrypted network called the Ghost Network.
I'm Nicola Tallent and this is Crime World, a podcast about criminals, drugs and the sins of the underworld. If you like this podcast and want to learn more about crime, go to our new website www.crimeworld.com for stories, extras and podcast subscriber specials.
A Dublin man was before the courts in Dublin this morning charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation involved in the importation of drugs and money laundering. Brian Grendon, who is 48, faces the charges understood to centre on a hack of the ghost encrypted phone network. I'm talking with Niall Donald about his arrest and charge.
You're listening to Crime World, a podcast from crimeworld.com. big story in coming from the Dublin courts this morning and it's the appearance of a 48 year old man charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation involved in drug importation and money laundering. A guy called Brian Grendon was brought before the criminal courts of justice this morning.
And that's as part of a long running investigation by the Guardian National Drug and Organised Crime Bureau. Now, we believe that this is going to be or will be the first case that's centred on encrypted phone evidence.
Yes. So Brian Grendon is from Greenfort in Clondalk and he's accused of directing... the activities of a criminal organization. These charges are long in the importation and distribution of controlled drugs and the money laundering of the proceeds of the sale of those drugs. But the charge relates to a particular period of alleged offending, I suppose.
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Chapter 2: How was the Ghost encrypted phone network compromised?
It's from August the 1st to September the 17th, 2024. And so that is the period around which there was a hack into an encrypted network called the Ghost Network. And so we can surmise that those two things are connected.
Grendam was arrested at Dublin Airport on Sunday evening. He was returning to Ireland, having been abroad, and he was held in guarded custody overnight. Charged, I think, within the station, but brought straight to the CCJ, the Dublin District Court, this morning where there was a lot of interest in his arrival.
Yeah, obviously the charge of directing or controlling the criminal gang can carry a potential life sentence. We have seen other people brought before the courts on discharge, but it isn't, you know, it's not everybody that gets charged with that offence. So the ghost, the hack into the ghost network is, was a multi-police organisation, basically coordinated with
police in Australia primarily, where this network was based. Unlike EncoChat and the Sky ECC network, this was a much, much smaller network. EncoChat, as we've spoken about before, basically people would use a handset and they'd have an app and they could get, they could They could send messages through the network in that way. The ghost network was slightly different.
You had to buy the handset from an IT person. AnchorChat, I can't remember the number, but it was tens of thousands, where the ghost network was much smaller and only operated in a number of countries. The two main countries were Australia and Ireland.
The person accused of controlling the ghost network was a kind of, I think he was actually described in court proceedings as a computer geek, believe it or not. But he was a guy living with his parents, you know, who are sort of Chinese, of Chinese origin, living in Australia, who ran a dry cleaning business.
But basically the messages sent on this network were monitored over a period of time by police forces and they would subsequently say that it showed the importation and distribution of drugs. And while we have heard of anchor chat in some Irish cases or cases involving Irish criminals such as people like Padder Keating and Liam Byrne,
We haven't, in this country, brought cases to do with a live hack of an encrypted network. So this would be a legal first in that way. And obviously the charges brought against Brian Grendon, and I think it says he made no comment when they were brought against him. He's been remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison.
by Judge Mary Keneally. And bail can only be granted in this case on a charge of directing a criminal organisation at the High Court. So if he wishes to have bail or to apply for bail, he'll have to make an application to the High Court over the coming days or weeks. And we will certainly be hearing a lot more about this case in the foreseeable future.
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