Crime gang smuggled children in tyre truck
A West London organised crime gang that smuggled £42million in cash to Dubai and attempted to smuggle 17 migrants in the back of a van to the UK have been found guilty.
The network of 16 people had made hundreds of trips to the UAW between 2017 and 2019 as part of their international money laundering plot. The National Crime Agency believes the money was profit from the sale of Class A drugs and organised immigration crime in the UK.
Around £1.5million was seized from couriers but flight analysis, cash declarations in Dubai and other evidence showed the group had succeeded in transporting far more. Also as part of the investigation, officers uncovered a plot involving some of the members to smuggle migrants into the UK.
They included five children and a pregnant woman who had been hiding in the back of a van carrying tyres in 2019. The van was successfully intercepted by Dutch police before it could reach a ferry at the Hook of Holland.
After weeks of surveillance and evidencegathering, officers moved in to make arrests in November 2019, with gang ringleader Charan Singh, 44, from Hounslow, 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 UAE, paid for flights to Dubai for other members so they could carry cash. He also kept a ledger detailing these journeys and how much had been transported.
It showed at least 58 trips to Dubai were made by Singh and his couriers in 2017 alone. A number of others were arrested with two trials beginning at Croydon Crown Court in January 2023. The first saw six people, 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.
All 16 convicted are due to be sentenced in a hearing starting September 11.