British woman caught smuggling suitcases packed with millions in cash to Dubai

24 February 2024 , 07:42

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The National Crime Agency uncovered a network of criminals smuggling money from London to Dubai (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A British woman was caught smuggling suitcases packed with millions in illicit cash from the UK to Dubai.

Bridget Taylor, 43, was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years after being found guilty of money laundering offences in December 2023. A major investigation by the National Crime Agency uncovered a criminal network that smuggled more than £104million during 83 separate London to Dubai trips between November 2019 and October 2020.

Taylor was among 14 people convicted for the conspiracy. The network was overseen by ringleader Abdullah Alfalasi, 48, who was jailed for more than nine years in July last year.

The group smuggled more than £104million during 83 separate London to Dubai trips (Getty Images/Westend61)

Taylor, from Edinburgh, Scotland, was sentenced this week at Isleworth Crown Court in London. National Crime Agency senior investigator Ian Truby described the conspiracy as the "brazen removals of criminal cash from the UK", reports EdinburghLive.

He said: "These were brazen removals of criminal cash from the UK. Each suitcase carried was brimming with bank notes. I've no doubt that Horst, Taylor and Bramall knew this money was the profits of high-harm crime, which would have ended up being reinvested in further criminal activity.

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"Cash is the lifeblood of organised crime. Working with partners like Border Force we are determined to do all we can to disrupt that flow of illicit finance and target the money launderers involved."

The group of couriers Taylor belonged to were paid around £3,000 for each trip and would be booked on business class flights due to the extra luggage allowance. It is understood she communicated with other members of the group via a WhatsApp group chat called "Sunshine and lollipops".

Samantha Horst, who was arrested following NCA raids in May 2021, made three trips to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between August and September 2020, checking in 18 suitcases containing £6.8 million. Taylor made the journey with a co-traveller in September 2020, taking five suitcases containing £2 million. She also transported £1.3 million in three suitcases in July of that year.

Craig Bramall removed an estimated £1.3 million in three suitcases during the one trip he made in September 2020. The network collected cash from criminal groups around the UK, which was believed to be the profits of drug dealing, and took it to counting houses, usually rented apartments in Central London.

The money was then vacuum packed and separated into suitcases which would typically each contain around £500,000, weighing around 40 kilos. They were sprayed with coffee or air fresheners in an effort to prevent them from being found by Border Force detection dogs.

Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, previously said: "The laundering of such vast quantities of cash around the globe enables organised criminals and corrupt elites to hide their illegally-obtained wealth. Cash smugglers typically work on behalf of international controllers, who move the money generated by the international drug trade, people traffickers, fraudsters and other criminal groups, all with the intention of making the illicit source of the money difficult to trace.

"The criminality this enables costs the UK billions every year, causes misery and ruins lives across the world. This case demonstrates the NCA's commitment to tackling money laundering, and preventing serious criminals from profiting from their activities."

Chiara Fiorillo