Europe News Desk!!! Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has said that 16 people, including several Indian-origin men and women, have been indicted following an investigation into a west London-based organized crime group involved in international money laundering and human trafficking. Members of the network made hundreds of trips to Dubai and the UAE between 2017 and 2019 and smuggled more than £42 million in cash out of the UK. According to the NCA investigation, the money was generated from the sale of Class A drugs and organized immigration crime Was. NCA Senior Investigating Officer Chris Hill said: “This has been a long and complex investigation into an organized crime group involved in money laundering and organized immigration crime at a commercial level. NCA investigators spent two years gathering evidence, working closely with partners in the UK and overseas.
Around £1.5 million was seized from couriers leaving the UK, but flight analysis, evidence from cash declarations in Dubai and other material seized by the NCA showed that the organization had managed to smuggle a much greater amount. In November 2019, officers began making arrests after several weeks of analysis. Two trials against the accused were launched at Croydon Crown Court in January 2023. Gang leader Charan Singh, 44, of Hounslow, and others were detained in a series of early morning raids in west London. Along with Singh, Waljit Singh, Jasbir Singh Kapoor, Jasbir Singh Dhal were found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal assets abroad or money laundering.
Swinder Singh Dhal was found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and conspiracy to violate immigration law. Diljan Singh Malhotra was found guilty of conspiracy to violate immigration laws. Amarjeet Albadis, Jaginder Kapoor, Jacqueer Kapoor, Manman Singh Kapoor, Pinky Kapoor and Jasbir Singh Malhotra were convicted of criminal property transfer. All the 16 convicts are to be sentenced in the trial to begin on 11 September 2023. They also include two individuals who entered guilty pleas to money laundering offenses before the two indictments were filed. During the investigation, NCA officers uncovered a conspiracy by members of this organized crime group to smuggle 17 migrants, including five children and a pregnant woman, into the UK in 2019. These people were being brought in a van sitting behind a van carrying tyres. But before reaching a ferry in the Hook of Holland, the van was stopped by Dutch police, who were working with the NCA.
–IANS
World News Desk!!!
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