WhatsApp image helps Britain police arrest drug dealer
In most probably a first, a WhatsApp image has helped police nab a drug dealer. The police in Britain recently arrested a drug dealer named Elliott Morris based on his fingerprints that were found inside a WhatsApp image. The photograph, which was allegedly sent by Morris to his clients, showed a part of his hand which the police successfully scanned to identify him.
The police arrested Morris on a tip-off that claimed he was selling drugs in Wales. On checking his phone, they found an image of him holding ecstasy tablets in his palm. The image was sent to the scientific support unit in the hope that a fingerprint could be potentially extracted out of it. Notably, it matched with Morris's to confirm his involvement in the crime.
Although the police couldn't find a match because the image showed the middle and bottom of a finger and not the top which is usually recorded to track fingerprints, the scan turned out to be enough evidence against Morris. "While the scale and quality of the photograph proved a challenge, the small bits were enough to prove he was the dealer," the police said.
Dave Thomas from the South Wales Police's scientific support unit said, "It has now opened the floodgates and when there is part of a hand on a photograph, officers are sending them in."
