Smugglers paid ?3k a flight to smuggle ?100m in cash in suitcases …

A crime group that included a former model smuggled more than £104 million from the UK to Dubai have been found guilty of money laundering. The network had made 83 trips between November 2019 and October 2020 and had packed millions of pounds worth of cash into their suitcases, which were then sprayed with coffee or air fresheners to disguise the smell from Border Force detection dogs.

The couriers, who had been paid £3,000 for each trip and flew on business class, had communicated on a Whatsapp group called ‘Sunshine and lollipops’. It is believed that the large amounts of cash had been collected from criminal groups around the UK and were the profits of drug dealing.

Following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court, 11 of the couriers have been convicted, including Beatrice Auty, 26, from London; Jonathan Johnson, 55, and Jo Emma Larvin, 44, both from Ripon in North Yorkshire, and Amy Harrison, 27, from Worcester Park in Surrey

Jo Emma Larvin, 44 (Image: NCA)

Jurors heard that the operation had been overseen by ringleader Abullah Alfalsi, 47, who was jailed for more than nine years in July last year. Investigators established that courier Tara Hanlon, who was convicted in June 2021, had briefed another courier about the operation.

The courier had travelled from Heathrow to Dubai on three occasions in August and September 2020, checking in 18 suitcases which contained £6.8 million. Auty travelled the same route twice in July and August of that year, and had checked in seven suitcases containing £3.4million. She was arrested in May 2021 following raids by the National Crime Agency.

Czech national Zdenek Kamaryt, who was convicted of money laundering in March 2021, joined her on the second trip. Jurors heard that Auty was involved in the logistical arrangements for another 16 trips, helping to pack cash into suitcases, accompanying couriers to Heathrow and collecting empty suitcases.

Larvin, who had previously been in a relationship with Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe, had made two trips to Dubai in August and September. She had travelled once with Amy Harrison when they took seven cases between them containing £2.2 million and another with her partner Johnson, when they took eight suitcases containing £2.8 million.

Jonathan Johnson, 55 (Image: NCA)

The two were arrested at Manchester Airport in March 2022. Meanwhile, Harrison made a further three trips between July and September 2020, taking 15 suitcases containing around £6 million.

The money is believed to be the profits of drug dealing from criminal groups, which was taken to counting houses, which were usually rented apartments in Central London. The cash was then vacuum packed and separated into suitcases, which would typically contain around £500,000 and weigh around 40 kilos.

Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, said: “The laundering of such vast quantities of cash around the globe enables organised criminals and corrupt elites to clean or hide their ill-gotten gains.

“Cash smugglers typically work on behalf of International Controller Networks, who move the finances of the international drug trade, people traffickers, fraudsters and other criminal groups, making the source of the money difficult to trace.

“The criminality this enables costs the UK billions every year, causes misery and ruins lives across the world. This case demonstrates the continued commitment by the NCA to crackdown on money laundering and close the vulnerabilities being exploited.”

NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: “These couriers were important cogs in a large money laundering wheel. The crime group they belonged to was responsible for smuggling eye-watering amounts of criminal cash out of the UK.

“This simply wouldn’t have been possible without couriers doing their bidding, in return for a sunshine holiday and a slice of the profit. Cash is the lifeblood of organised crime groups, which they re-invest into activities such as drug trafficking. This fuels violence and insecurity around the world, which is why our investigation into other cash couriers continues.”

Beatrice Auty, 26, from London (Image: NCA)

Five other couriers have pleaded guilty at previous hearings and will be sentenced at a later date, along with those convicted yesterday. They are:

Nicola Esson, 56, from Leeds, and Stacey Borg, 41, of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, who were arrested in May 2021. Esson travelled from Heathrow to Dubai on three occasions in August and September 2020, checking in 19 suitcases with a combined weight of almost half a tonne. Borg made three trips to Dubai during the same period, on one occasion travelling with Esson. She declared £1.8 million in cash to Dubai customs in September 2020 and £2.5 million the following month.

· Paige Henry, 25, from Birmingham, made four trips to Dubai in August and September 2020, one alone and three with other couriers, carrying a total of 24 suitcases containing £8.25 million.

· Megan Reeves, 30, from Doncaster, was arrested alongside Hanlon in October 2020, with five suitcases between them containing £2 million. Messages showed the pair had known each other since 2017. At the time Reeves claimed they were going on a ‘girly holiday’ to Dubai but communications showed she intended to make 13 trips to clear debts of £39,000.

· Muhammad Ilyas, 30, from Slough, was arrested by NCA officers at Heathrow Airport^[2] after in February 2020 after arriving on a flight from Dubai. He had checked in four suitcases at the airport ten days earlier, one of which had gone missing, and declared almost £1.5 million in cash to Dubai Customs. The missing suitcase was subsequently found by Border Force officers, and contained £431,360 in cash.

Other couriers remain under investigation.

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References

1. ^{^} Evil predators filmed themselves raping woman after driving her to secluded park and forcing her to undress (www.mylondon.news)
2. ^{^} Heathrow Airport (www.mylondon.news)