Once the police know the mobile or landline phone number of any "person of interest", criminal conspiracies unravel very, very, fast.
There is very sophisticated software that builds the picture of the persons network using phone numbers and associated call records, bank account numbers, addresses, car registrations, credit card details, etc. To my knowledge, early versions of these programs were only ever displayed in public once - during the Costigan Royal Commission, and haven't seen the light of day since then.
...And all that is before they even bother with getting an interception warrant.
The pilot of this aircraft was nailed from the second he took the first phone call from the crooks.