Cash couriers who smuggled millions in suitcases sentenced
The gang smuggled more than £100 million out of the UK to the UAE.
Last updated 27th Apr 2024
Six more members of a money laundering network which smuggled more than £100 million out of the UK to the UAE have been sentenced.
The network transported the cash to Dubai during 83 separate trips between November 2019 and October 2020, overseen by ringleader Abdullah Alfalasi, 48, who was jailed for more than nine years in July 2022.
The couriers, who were paid between £3,000-5,000 for each trip and would be booked on business class flights due to the extra luggage allowance, communicated on WhatsApp groups including one titled ’Sunshine and lollipops’.
Paige Henry, 26, from Birmingham, Samantha Horst, 51, from Staines-upon-Thames, Craig Bramall, 42, from Wigan, Bridget Taylor, 44, from Edinburgh, Ali Al-Nawab, 40, and Mehdi Amrollahbibiyouki, 41, both from London, were all sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court.
Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, said:
“Money laundering fuels the global drugs trade, human trafficking, fraud, ransomware and many other crimes that cause misery and ruin lives.
“Today is an important step in removing one transnational criminal gang responsible for laundering at least £100 million.
“Gangs such as this smuggle cash on behalf of international controller networks – apex criminals who deploy sophisticated techniques to move and conceal the proceeds of crime in eye watering volumes and, sometimes, at the click of a button. The world’s most dangerous organised criminals and corrupt elites cannot operate effectively without them.
“With 17 people sentenced, this case highlights the scale and level of organisation money launderers will deploy to commit their crimes. The NCA is committed to targeting these gangs and working with our partners across the globe to reduce the threat from all forms of illicit finance.”
NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: “This was cash smuggling on a breath-taking scale.
“Although many of the couriers regarded these trips as paid for adventures in the sun, the stark reality is that this cash was generated from real-world harm.
“Profits are often re-invested into criminal activities such as drug trafficking, which fuels violence and insecurity in the UK and across the world.
“This case, one of the largest of its kind ever investigated by the NCA, demonstrates our commitment to targeting the criminal networks involved in international money laundering.”
At Isleworth Crown Court on 22 February, Horst was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment suspended for two years, Taylor to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years and Bramall to 17 months imprisonment suspended for two years.
Henry was sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended for two years on 15 March.
Al-Nawab was sentenced on 26 April to two years, suspended for two years. Amrollahbibiyouki was sentenced to four years.