A Wigan man who smuggled suitcases full of dirty money onto a flight to Dubai has avoided jail.

Craig Bramall smuggled approximately £1.3m in three boxes before the trip in September 2020. The 42-year-old was part of an international money laundering ring transporting more than £100m in illicit cash from the United Kingdom to the United Arab Emirates. Emirates (UAE) during 83 separate voyages between November 2019 and October 2020.

He and other members of the 17-strong gang were paid up to £5,000 for each trip they made to the Gulf state. Bramall has since received a suspended prison sentence following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

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The huge money laundering operation was overseen by ringleader Abdullah Alfalasi, a 48-year-old Emirati national, who was jailed for more than nine years in July 2022. The messengers, who communicated through WhatsApp groups, including one titled ‘Sunshine and Lollipops’, flights were booked in business class due to extra baggage allowance.

Bramall received a 17-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Isleworth Crown Court on February 22. He was sentenced alongside Paige Henry, 26, from Birmingham, Samantha Horst, 51, from Staines-upon-Thames, Bridget Taylor, 44, from Edinburgh.

Two other members of the group, Ali Al-Nawab, 40, and Mehdi Amrollahbibiyouki, 41, both from London, were sentenced today.

Adrian Searle, director of the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, said: “Money laundering fuels the global drug trade, human trafficking, fraud, ransomware and many other crimes that cause misery and ruin lives. Today is an important step towards eliminating a transnational criminal gang responsible for laundering at least £100 million.

“Gangs like this smuggle cash on behalf of networks of international controllers – high-level criminals who use sophisticated techniques to move and conceal the proceeds of crime in staggering volumes and sometimes at the click of a button. The world’s most dangerous organized criminals and corrupt elites cannot operate effectively without them.

“With 17 people sentenced, this case highlights the scale and level of organization that money launderers will deploy to commit their crimes. “The NCA is committed to tackling these gangs and working with our partners around the world to reduce the threat of all forms of illicit financing.”

Horst, who was arrested following the NCA raids in May 2021, made three trips to Dubai between August and September 2020 and checked in 18 suitcases containing £6.8 million. Taylor made the trip with a traveling companion in September 2020, carrying five suitcases containing £2 million. He also transported £1.3 million in three suitcases in July of that year.

Henry made four trips to Dubai in August and September 2020, one alone and three with other couriers, carrying a total of 24 suitcases containing £9.05 million.

Amrollahbibiyouki, who was arrested at his home in April 2022, made three trips to Dubai in February and March 2020, checking in 12 suitcases containing £4.3 million. Evidence on his phones revealed that he had also been responsible for counting and packaging criminal cash totaling £11.1 million on eight trips made by other couriers, including those he made himself.

Al-Nawab was arrested in May 2022 as he left the United Kingdom to travel to Türkiye. He made two trips in March 2020 and checked in nine suitcases containing £3.2 million.

The ring collected cash from criminal groups across the UK, which mainly came from drug trafficking, and took it to houses which were rented apartments in central London.

The money was then vacuum sealed and separated into suitcases, which would normally contain around £500,000 each. They were sprayed with coffee or air fresheners in an effort to prevent sniffer dogs from finding them.

NCA senior investigator Ian Truby said: “This was cash smuggling on a staggering scale. Although many of the couriers considered these trips to be payments for adventures in the sun, the harsh reality is that this money was generated from real-world damage.

“Profits are often reinvested in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, which fuels violence and insecurity in the UK and around the world. “This case, one of the largest of its kind ever investigated by the NCA, demonstrates our commitment to targeting criminal networks involved in international money laundering.”

Horst was sentenced to 24 months in prison suspended for two years and Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in prison suspended for two years. Henry was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years on March 15.

Al-Nawab was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. Amrollahbibiyouki was sentenced to four years in prison.