Money laundering and people smuggling network dismantled

National Crime Agency investigators believe the money was profit from the sale of Class A drugs and organised immigration crime. Around £1.5 million was seized from couriers leaving the UK, but flight analysis, evidence from cash declarations in Dubai and other material seized by the National Crime Agency showed the group had succeeded in transporting far more.

As part of the investigation, National Crime Agency officers also uncovered a plot involving members of the organised crime group to smuggle 17 migrants, including five children and a pregnant woman, into the UK in the back of a van carrying tyres back in 2019. The van was intercepted by Dutch police officers, who were working with the National Crime Agency, before it could reach a ferry at the Hook of Holland.

Weeks of surveillance

In November 2019, following weeks of surveillance, communications and flight data analysis, officers moved in to make arrests. Gang ringleader Charan Singh, aged 44, from Hounslow, was among those detained in a series of early morning raids across west London.

Investigators were able to prove that Singh, who was formerly resident in the United Arab Emirates, paid for flights to Dubai for other members of the network so they could carry cash. He also kept a ledger showing how much had been transported and when. The ledger highlighted that at least 58 trips to Dubai were made by Singh and his couriers during 2017 alone.

Further arrests followed and those charged were prosecuted in two trials at Croydon Crown Court, starting in January this year. The first trial saw six individuals, including Singh, found guilty of money laundering offences. Two defendants were additionally convicted for facilitating illegal immigration along with a third individual. Midway through the second trial, six defendants changed their plea to guilty in relation to money laundering offences. As a result, reporting restrictions on the case were lifted on Friday 5 May.

All 16 individuals convicted are due to be sentenced in a hearing that starts on 11 September, including two individuals who entered guilty pleas for money laundering offences prior to the two trials.

Long and complex investigation

National Crime Agency senior investigating officer Chris Hill explained: “This has been a long and complex investigation into an organised crime group involved in money laundering on a commercial scale in addition to organised immigration crime. Over a two-year period, working together with partners in the UK and abroad, National Crime Agency investigators were able to uncover the evidence needed to secure these convictions.”

Hill continued: “This case demonstrates the continued commitment from the National Crime Agency to protect the public and target the criminal networks involved in both people smuggling and money laundering. We will continue to use the full range of tactics at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle them.”

Tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the National Crime Agency. The organisation lists upwards of 90 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking.