Ten members, including an Indian-origin man, of a criminal group that smuggled drugs and money across the United Kingdom were sentenced to a total of 31 years at Liverpool Crown Court following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.
The Metropolitan police stopped Daljeet Singh Juttla, 42, of Ruislip, London, with £90,000 of drugs money that Richard Hunt, another gang member, had couriered down to the city on Jamie Hughes’ behalf. Hughes was the mastermind behind the group.
Juttla received 20-month jail sentence, was suspended for two years, and has to do 200 hours unpaid work for money laundering.
“Established trafficking routes like these present a complex and troubling threat to the UK. With well worked-out logistics a criminal group can turn its hand to anything from gun running or drug smuggling, expanding their own operations or hiring out their services to others. NCA officers are alert to the tactics criminals use to shift commodities and hide their activity and are equipped with the skills and tools needed to bring them to justice,” Jane Lloyd, the branch commander at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said on Dec. 19.
Hughes was imprisoned for five years and four months after pleading guilty to his role in the conspiracy. He claimed to be a car dealer but was exchanging vehicles as part payment for drugs such as cannabis, amphetamines and ketamine. They operated out of North West of England. Members delivered bulk loads of drugs to clients in locations from Scotland to London in vans with hidden compartments.
Hughes had installed a CCTV system to monitor his driveway. It provided NCA officers with key evidence against his network as footage showed various members of the conspiracy exchanging packages or leaving Hughes’ address with parcels.
NCA officers exposed the group in an investigation that ran from October 2014 to January 2016.