American drug smugglers were snared with £8million worth of cocaine concealed in suitcases at Manchester Airport. The gang – consisting of five women and two men – had been recruited by crime bosses and promised “considerable” payments.
They were instructed to collect 12 bags, containing over 300kg of the Class A drug after being flown to the UK. However, their plans fell apart when one of the bags was put through an X-ray machine, triggering an alarm reports the Mirror.
Three members of the group were immediately arrested, while another four were apprehended in rooms at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, located opposite the airport. Two were discovered naked in bed when officers stormed in.
Since the incident, six individuals have been sentenced for their involvement in the “sophisticated” operation, which prosecutors claim was ‘orchestrated’ by higher-ranking criminals. Another person is awaiting sentencing.
The recruited Americans were divided into ‘teams’ and arrived in Macnchester on seperate flights, as revealed in Manchester Crown Court. Brian Marealle, 32, and Laquesa Greer, 50, travelled from JFK Airport in New York, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Charles Mass, 29, and his girlfriend Brianna Hunt, 22, flew in from Orlando. Yulibeth Gonzalez, 26, Leandra Royer, 26, and Chloe Sandoval, 24, journeyed from Los Angeles via Dusseldorf.
Their arrivals in the UK – on May 31 last year – were timed to coincide with an incoming flight from Cancun. On that plane were 12 suitcases, each packed with between 22 and 24 blocks of cocaine, each labelled with a different name tag.
Now, the six-person criminal crew who jetted around the world to collect suitcases stuffed with cocaine have been busted. Each member was told to have two cases and were promised payments of between $4,000 and $5,000, and travel costs.
Described as the “key orchestrator,” a figure known as ‘Nate’ operated closely with an associate called ‘Cruz’, court docs reveal. This duo recruited members, took care of travel, and stayed in touch via WhatsApp and Telegram.
Accomplice Royer recruited others to the group and pitched the gig as easy money, assuring in a text it was “100 per cent secure” with no arrests ever made. Mass dragged his girlfriend Hunt into the mix.
On May 11, Mass’ solo Barbados-Manchester flight raised eyebrows when he touched down without any bags but an unclaimed suitcase filled with 20kg of coke lingered at the airport. Another attempt on May 24 ended fruitlessly; evidenced by a message to Marealle saying: “Cases didn’t make it.”
Prior to Greer’s arrest-bound trip, she texted ‘Nate’: “As long as I go and come back safely and get the money, I’m good.” However, the plot unravelled on May 31 at Terminal 2 when staff spotted telltale blocks in a bag, leading Border Force officers to pounce on the gang.
The group had a plan to quickly grab the suitcases from an airport carousel, with instructions to initially hide in the toilets. Sandoval grabbed a bag and ran off to Bury, then returned to the Hilton hotel.
Gonzalez wasn’t so lucky; she was caught red-handed with a case. Her last text to ‘Nate’ chillingly read: “I got caught.” Mass and Hunt scrapped their part of the scheme and retuned to the Hilton, soon joined by Royer who had been tipped off. Marealle and Greer were nabbed by the carousel.
Later that day, Royer and Sandoval were arrested at the Hilton, while Mass and Hunt were found naked in bed when they were caught. One suitcase has not been located, but the others were packed with cocaine worth about £700,000 wholesale.
Sandoval, Hunt, Royer, Greer, Mass, and Gonzalez, all without a permanent address, admitted to dodging the ban on importing Class A drugs before their trial could kick off. Marealle, also of no fixed abode, faced a jury and lost.
Marealle was hit with a 13-year sentence; Mass and Royer each received 11 years and eight months; Gonzalez got nine years; Hunt was sentenced to seven years and six months; and Greer to eight years and six months. They could all potentially be deported to the US after serving time in prison.
Sandoval’s sentence will be confirmed on February 14. Judge Tom Gilbart, delivering the sentences, described the crime as both ‘considerable’ and ‘sophisticated’, noting the culprits were well aware of the illegality but were driven by the lure of easy money.
“However it was nothing compared to the cost of the risk you were taking on for others,” the judge admonished. He highlighted that Marealle, Mass, and Royer were significantly involved due to their ‘great knowledge of the scale of the enterprise’.
The judge noted Hunt, described as “young, naïve and impressionable”, along with Gonzalez, and Greer, who is battling cancer, had a “lesser role”. “Each of you were taken advantage of by more sophisticated criminals who preyed on your naïve and foolish view that you could make easy money,” he concluded.