The polo prince and the ‘drug lord’
Club’s ‘ambassador’ who met William and Harry is ‘The Sultan’ behind multi-million narcotics operation, say agents in US sting
STANDING alongside his wife, the businessman in a pinstripe suit exuded confident respectability as he chatted to Prince William at a charity polo event.
It was a summer afternoon in 2009 and Muhammad Asif Hafeez, a familiar face on the polo circuit and a man noted for his quiet charm, was a VIP guest.
But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that at the time of his encounter with the Prince, Hafeez was allegedly masterminding a massive global drugs operation that ‘saw no borders or boundaries’.
According to prosecutors, the 58-year-old – who is thought to have made a donation to the elite event that benefited six of Prince William and Prince Harry’s favourite charities – was referred to by members of his syndicate as The Sultan.
Yet in the rarefied circles in which he moved in Britain, Hafeez was esteemed as a wealthy industrialist and lifelong polo enthusiast. Since 2009 he has been one of Ham Polo Club’s ‘ international club ambassadors’.
Following a joint UK-US operation, he was arrested in August at his flat in Regent’s Park, London. He also has a £ 5 million home in Berkshire where he breeds polo horses.
Now in Wandsworth Prison, he is fighting extradition to the US where he is wanted for allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin and crystal meth into the country. Along with associates, he is also accused of setting up a massive drugs factory in Mozambique.
On Friday, Hafeez appeared via videolink before Westminster magistrates court. But back in June 2009, he took his place in the VIP enclosure at Ham Polo Club in Richmond to watch William and Harry’s team play.
It is understood he was given the opportunity of meeting the brothers after the match because of his donation. During their conversation, Hafeez’s wife Shahina, 57, presented William with a bouquet and gave Harry a protocol-busting hug which made onlookers gasp.
Friends said Hafeez has also met Prince Charles and other senior Royals through polo. In the same month that he met William and Harry, Hafeez and Shahina attended another event at Ham, rubbing shoulders with Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend Dave Clarke, as well as Pippa Middleton and then England manager Fabio Capello.
William and Harry, of course, had no idea Hafeez was a ‘long-time priority target’ of America’s Drug Enforcement Administration. And to anyone who pressed him, Hafeez headed a Dubai-based conglomerate, producing everything from textiles to military hardware.
But during an earlier hearing at Westminster magistrates court in August, details of an altogether different business empire were outlined. It was claimed he has been involved in narcotics trafficking since 1993 and that his operation stretched across Asia, Europe and North America. In a press statement issued before the hearing, US Attorney Joon H Kim said: ‘[The] Sultan trafficked in drugs on a massive and global scale, working with transnational criminal organisations to manufacture and distribute enormous quantities of heroin and methamphetamine [crystal meth] around the world and the United States. From Kenya and Mozambique to London and New York, Hafeez’s alleged drug operation saw no borders or boundaries – until now.’ Hafeez was arrested at the request of the US authorities following an operation by Britain’ s National Crime Agency and Met police and the DEA. According to t he official DEA indictment, Hafeez is accused of joining forces with a feared African crime family called the Akasha Organisation, led by brothers Baktash Akasha Abdalla and Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, who have already been extradited to the US.
In 2014, the DEA launched an undercover operation against the Sultan-Akasha network, a ‘sting’ in which its undercover agents posed as Colombian drug dealers wanting to buy heroin. In October 2014, Ibrahim Akasha delivered a kilogram of heroin to the DEA agents in the Kenyan city of Mombasa, which the ‘Colombians’ said was destined for the US.
The following month, the Akasha organisation delivered 98 kilograms of heroin to the DEA agents. The agents were told that the heroin was the ‘Sultan’s drugs’, and they reportedly spoke to Hafeez by Skype video. The conversation was secretly recorded. The Akasha brothers and two others – Gulam Hussein and Vicky Goswami – were subsequently arrested by Kenyan police and extradited to the US earlier this year after a three-year legal battle.
Separately, Hafeez is accused of trying to smuggle tons of crystal meth into the US while working alongside the Akasha organisation.
The DEA alleges that they set up a special laboratory in Mozambique to make the drug.
At the same time, others in the gang – Goswami and his wife Mamta Kulkarni, a well-known Bollywood actress – were running a factory 3,600 miles away in India to manufacture ephedrine, the deadly drug’s active ingredient.
This was then due to be smuggled to Mozambique.
During the August hearing, prosecuting barrister Hashim Chaudhri said Hafeez could face life imprisonment in the US if found guilty.
But Hafeez’s defence team said he was the victim of mistaken identity and stressed he does not have a criminal record in any jurisdiction. He next faces court on December 13.
Last night, his solicitor, Hassan Khan, said: ‘Mr Hafeez entirely denies all the allegations made against him by United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
‘He will be vigorously defending all the allegations made by the US and the associated extradition request initiated by the US.
‘The allegations made against him are inaccurate and unsupported.’
Although Hafeez has been listed as one of Ham Polo Club’s 14 international club ambassadors every year since 2009, club treasurer Paul de Rivaz last night said he was not a current member.
Last night, Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the Princes meeting Hafeez and his wife at the polo match.
‘He trafficked heroin on a massive and global scale’ Officers posed as dealers in undercover operation