A mother and her daughter have been jailed for transporting millions of pounds of criminal proceeds to Dubai in suitcases.
Heather Jeffrey, 58, received a six-and-a-half-year sentence while her daughter Lamara Noel, 34, was handed five years at Bolton Crown Court on Friday (October 2). Devanyl Graham, 27, from Dewsbury, was sentenced to six years.
The trio formed part of a network that illegally moved nearly £30 million from the UK to the United Arab Emirates.
Sentences handed down
Sophie Logan, 31, formerly of Derby, received a seven-and-a-half-year term, while Ben Royle, 32, from London, was given four years and three months.
Sheikh Jobe, 33, from Manchester, received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years. He was directed to complete 200 hours of community service and placed under a three-month curfew, reports Yorkshire Live.
Jeffrey's son, Sheldan Noel, 30, also from Bradford, is due to be sentenced on November 27. Former Emirates check-in attendant Emma Rauf, 34, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, is scheduled to be sentenced from October 29.
Investigation details
NCA branch commander Jon Hughes said: "This crime group smuggled enormous quantities of cash, to remove it from the attention of law enforcement."
"Illicit cash is the lifeblood of organised crime groups, fuelling violence and insecurity around the world. This is why disrupting its supply is a priority for the NCA and our partners, hitting crime groups in the pocket where it hurts the most."
A National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation uncovered that the group operated alongside a British organiser based in Dubai. Between December 2017 and November 2019, the gang transported the money on Emirates flights departing from Manchester, Birmingham and Brussels airports.
The alleged organiser, who is awaiting extradition to the UK to stand trial and cannot be named for legal reasons, instructed his associates to collect cash from organised crime groups and transport it to the UAE by air without declaring it upon departure, as is required by law.
Cash was gathered from criminal networks across northern England, spanning Sheffield, Huddersfield, Manchester, Liverpool and Southport.
Courier methods
Couriers concealed hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time within clothing, packed across as many as five suitcases. Upon arriving in Dubai, they were accommodated in luxury hotels, with meals and visits to exclusive nightclubs and beach clubs all covered.
Jeffrey, Sheldan Noel and Lamara Noel collected funds from organised crime groups and ferried the money to Dubai. Across 10 trips each, Jeffrey smuggled out £5 million, Sheldan Noel £5.4 million and Lamara Noel £2.5 million.
The alleged organiser directed the trio via a WhatsApp group, with messages revealing that Jeffrey was instructed to collect cash from Huddersfield and Sheffield in May 2018.
Graham travelled to Dubai on 18 separate occasions, declaring a total of £4 million in cash upon arrival.
Logan claimed she was employed as the alleged organiser's personal assistant. Over a two-year period, she travelled to and from Dubai 38 times, declaring £3.9 million in cash upon arrival on 14 separate occasions.
The operation started to fall apart after £788,455 in cash was confiscated at UK airports on three different dates, triggering the NCA investigation.
Couriers were occasionally assisted by Rauf, Royle's sister, who was employed at Manchester Airport. She allowed suitcases filled with cash through the check-in desk, even when they exceeded weight limits, and instructed colleagues to do likewise during shifts when she was absent.
When a courier was intercepted by Border Force and the cash confiscated, she made enquiries to assist other couriers in evading detection. She herself travelled to and from the UAE seven times over a seven-month period, phoning in sick to work.
In October 2018, Rauf and Royle collected £406,500 in criminal cash and left it in the boot of her vehicle on her parents' driveway in Hale, Altrincham. An intruder broke into the car and stole the money, and the alleged organiser insisted the pair undergo lie detector tests to prove they had not taken it.
A gunman subsequently opened fire at her parents' home. One bullet passed through the front door, while several more came through the living room window, one travelling through a sofa and embedding itself in the wall.
The property was unoccupied at the time. The shooting followed threats from the criminal who owned the money that whoever stole it would be killed.
Royle enlisted his associate Jobe to smuggle £306,040 in cash out of Manchester Airport in October 2018. The money was discovered in Jobe's luggage after he had checked it in, leading to his arrest.
A jury found Graham, Jeffrey, Lamara Noel, Sheldan Noel and Logan guilty on June 4 following a 12-week trial. Rauf changed her plea to guilty on March 23, having initially denied the charge, while Royle and Jobe both admitted their involvement prior to the trial.
