Joe Calzaghe's ex-girlfriend is facing jail for her role in a £104 million drug smuggling ring.
Jo Emma Larvin, 44, was part of the group who smuggled million of pounds worth of drugs from the UK to the UAE during 83 separate trips between November 2019 and October 2020.
Beatrice Auty, 26, and Larvin's current partner, Jonathan Johnson, 55, as well as Amy Harrison, 27, were all found guilty of money laundering yesterday (25 April).
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Larvin - who dated the championship boxer for six years - made two trips to Dubai in August and September 2020; one with Amy Harrison when they took seven cases containing £2.2 million.
Also with her partner Jonathan Johnson, they took another eight suitcases containing £2.8 million.
Harrison made three trips between July and September 2020, taking 15 suitcases containing around £6m.
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Larvin and Johnson were arrested at Manchester Airport in March 2022.
Ringleader Abdullah Alfalsi, 47, who oversaw the operation, was jailed for more than nine years in July last year.
The couriers were paid around £3,000 per trip and were provided with business class tickets to get the extra luggage allowance.
Gang bosses arranged shipments on a WhatsApp group called 'Sunshine and lollipops', according to Britain's FBI, the NCA.
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Adrian Searle, Director of the National Economic Crime Centre in the NCA, said: “The laundering of such vast quantities of cash around the globe enables organised criminals and corrupt elites to clean or hide their ill-gotten gains.
“Cash smugglers typically work on behalf of International Controller Networks, who move the finances of the international drug trade, people traffickers, fraudsters and other criminal groups, making the 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.
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“This case demonstrates the continued commitment by the NCA to crackdown on money laundering and close the vulnerabilities being exploited.”
NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby added: “These couriers were important cogs in a large money laundering wheel.
“The crime group they belonged to was responsible for smuggling eye-watering amounts of criminal cash out of the UK.
“This simply wouldn’t have been possible without couriers doing their bidding, in return for a sunshine holiday and a slice of the profit.
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“Cash is the lifeblood of organised crime groups, which they re-invest into activities such as drug trafficking. This fuels violence and insecurity around the world, which is why our investigation into other cash couriers continues.”
Featured Image Credit: SWNS