A couple who won Come Dine With Me have been convicted after an airport drugs scam went wrong.
Back in July 2022, Nicholas Panayiotou and Eleanar Attard appeared on The Professionals spin-off of the popular Channel 4 show with their east London restaurant, Touch of Greek.
But the two winners are now facing prison sentences after being involved in a plot to import large amounts of cannabis.
Along with Constantinos Zavros, Luke Wileman and Koby Haik, Metropolitan Police say the group planned to smuggled 58kg of weed into the country from the US. And the whole thing failed following a theft at a London airport.
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On 11 January 2023, two women reported their suitcases and passports had been stolen after arriving in the capital on a flight from LA.
And CCTV led detectives to a female and male suspect along with a car registered to Attard.
Two days later, both Panayiotou and Attard were arrested. After the theft, the couple had travelled to a hotel and their Greek restaurant.
When Panayiotou’s phone was examined by officers, the Met say evidence was found that this theft was part of a wider conspiracy to import and steal cannabis, detailed in a WhatsApp group chat.
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This chat gave the police all of their plan for smuggling, such as a plot to steal it from the two women recruited to import it by pretending to be customs officers.
Three videos taken the day after the theft at the restaurant were also found on the phone which showed large quantities of cannabis.
Zavros, Haik and Wileman were identified in the WhatsApp group and were arrested last year.
When officers showed up at Haik’s home - who had advised the gang on how to sell the drugs - he was armed with a baseball bat and fired two shots from an imitation firearm when they entered the address before he was safely detained.
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All of the group were convicted and Wileman is due to be sentenced on 9 May.
Panayiotou was convicted of conspiracy to supply cannabis and conspiracy to steal and was sentenced to four years and one month in prison on Friday (12 April).
Attard was charged with theft of suitcases and passports and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out a 10-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and complete 100 hours of unpaid work at court on March 15.
Met Detective Chief Inspector Inderjit Kaur said: “This investigation highlights some fantastic detective work by Met Police officers to identify and uncover a dangerous group involved in drugs importation and supply, which we know can have a terrible effect on local communities.
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“We also saw incredible bravery and professionalism from TSG officers who were shot at as they arrested one of the suspects.
"Thankfully, only blanks were fired, but thanks to this investigation, a dangerous weapon is off the streets and a group of dangerous criminals are now behind bars.”
Jess Battison