Faces of 16 smugglers who put £42,000,000 in cash on flights to Dubai

A London gang of 16 people has been found guilty over a £42 million money laundering scheme.

Members of the crew smuggled cash out of the UK, making hundreds of journeys to the UAE between 2017 and 2019.

Investigators believe these were profits from people smuggling and dealing class A drugs.

Around £1.5 million was seized, but flight analysis and cash declarations in Dubai suggested the group successfully transported far more, police said.

Back in 2019, the same gang tried to smuggle 17 migrants – including a pregnant woman and five children – into the UK hidden in the back of a van carrying tyres.

Dutch police intercepted the vehicle before it could reach a ferry at the Hook of Holland, the National Crime Agency said.

After weeks of surveillance, communications and flight data analysis, NCA officers moved in to make arrests.

Charan Singh, from Hounslow, was among those detained in the raids across west London in November 2019.

Investigators were able to prove that the 44-year-old, who was formerly resident in the UAE, paid for flights to Dubai for other gang members.

The ringleader kept a ledger showing how much had been transported and when.

It showed that at least 58 trips to Dubai were made by Singh and couriers during 2017 alone.

Further arrests followed and those charged as part of the probe were prosecuted in two trials at Croydon Crown Court, starting this January.

Chris Hill, NCA senior investigating officer, said today: ‘This has been a long and complex investigation into an OCG involved in money laundering on a commercial scale and organised immigration crime.

‘Over a two-year period, working together with partners in the UK and abroad, NCA investigators were able to uncover the evidence to secure these convictions.

‘This case demonstrates the continued commitment by the NCA 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.’

Along with seven other defendants, Singh was found guilty of conspiring to remove criminal property – known as money laundering.

Valjeet Singh, 34, from Hounslow, was found guilty of conspiring to remove criminal property, four counts of removing criminal property, but not guilty of two separate counts of removing criminal property.

Swander Singh Dhal, 37, Hounslow, was found guilty of conspiring to remove criminal property, and conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law, but he was cleared of a separate count of conspiring to remove criminal property.

Jasbir Singh Kapoor, 35, Hayes, west London, was found guilty of two counts conspiring to remove criminal property, but not guilty of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

Jasbir Singh Dhal, 32, from Southall, west London, was found guilty of conspiring to remove criminal property.

Diljan Singh Malhotra, 47, from Uxbridge, west London, was cleared of two counts of conspiring to remove criminal property, but found guilty of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

Mircea Denes, 45, previously of Northolt was found guilty of conspiring to facilitate a breach of immigration law in his absence having absconded.

Sundar Vengadassalm, 48, from Southall, was found guilty of removing criminal property, but cleared of five separate counts of removing criminal property.

All 16 defendants are due to be sentenced at the same court from September this year.

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