Argentine woman and British man go on trial in Bali accused of smuggling cocaine
DENPASAR, Indonesia — An Argentine woman and a British man went on trial Thursday on charges of smuggling cocaine to the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. If convicted, they could face up to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Eleonora Gracia, 46, was arrested in March at Bali's airport with 244 grams (half a pound) of cocaine wrapped in a condom hidden in her vagina. Authorities alleged that she handed over the cocaine to Elliot James Shaw, 50, at a hotel near a Bali beach.
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Drug kingpins who plotted murder of rival jailed for life
A pair of drug kingpins have been jailed for life for plotting to murder a rival and smuggling £30 million worth of cocaine into the UK following one of the largest EncroChat investigations in history. James Harding, 34, and his 'loyal right-hand man' Jayes Kharouti, 39, ran a vast criminal empire which made £5 million in profits from importing drugs over 10 weeks in 2020 alone. They tried to recruit a hitman to put an unnamed rival courier 'permanently out of business', arming him with a gun and ammunition for the 'full M' – a murder, the court was told. At the time, Harding, who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury in Dubai, staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars. The plot was scuppered by Scotland Yard officers who accessed the defendants' discussions on EncroChat and trawled through thousands of messages. They were handed the data after French police smashed the encryption code to the service favoured by the criminal underworld. They were found guilty of conspiracy to murder while Harding was also convicted of conspiring with others to import cocaine, which Kharouti, of Epsom, Surrey, had admitted. On Thursday, Judge Anthony Leonard KC jailed the defendants for life, handing Harding a minimum term of 32 years and Kharouti a minimum term of 26 years. Judge Leonard said the wholesale value of one tonne of cocaine imported was £30 million and the scale of the operation was 'unimaginable'. The judge noted messages in which the defendants discussed violence against anyone tempted to speak to the police about their drug business. In one message, Harding said: 'You just have to know where their nan lives. They all love their nans. They know granny is going to get it in the head lol.' Harding had only been out of prison for four years when he opted to 'trade up' from supplying Class B to Class A drugs which reaped greater rewards. Kharouti also had previous convictions for the supply of cocaine and cannabis, the court heard. Their Old Bailey trial was held amid heightened security, with an armed police escort to and from the central London court and prison. Three other members of the organised crime group had previously admitted drugs offences. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the trial the defendants discussed on EncroChat importing a tonne of cocaine over a period of 10 weeks. Harding used the nickname 'thetopsking' while Kharouti went by the handle 'besttops' and 'topsybricks', the prosecution alleged. In EncroChat messages the pair discussed the robbery of a drugs courier and Kharouti reported back on whether six or seven kilograms of cocaine had been delivered to a client the day before. Mr Atkinson said it was Harding who first raised the idea of a 'cryp robbery' – taking drugs from a courier – which became a plan to kill a courier instead. The defendants discussed how and where the murder would take place, with Kharouti offering the potential hitman £100,000, the court was told. Kharouti kept his boss informed about the plan who told him it should involve a 'double tap' shot to the head and chest. Despite a delay over transport for the hitman, the defendants worked on alternative solutions, even arranging the shooting near to the proposed gunman's home. Kharouti increased the offer to £120,000 but an EncroChat user trying to locate an individual for him said the price should be no less than £200,000, the court was told. The alleged hitman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder in the early hours of June 3 2020, which the defendants were unaware of. Harding, who had previous convictions for drugs and false documents, was arrested at Geneva airport in Switzerland on December 27 2021 and extradited from Switzerland. Kharouti was extradited from Turkey to the UK on June 25 last year. Giving evidence, Harding denied using the handle 'the topsking', saying it belonged to an 'intimate' male partner called TK, who he refused to identify. The case formed part of a wider operation targeting criminals who used EncroChat. Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey, Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough, and Peter Thompson, 61 of south-west London, had admitted the cocaine conspiracy charge with Thompson also pleading guilty to possession a pistol. A man alleged to have been the proposed hitman was cleared.
Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Washington Post
Argentine woman and British man go on trial in Bali accused of smuggling cocaine
DENPASAR, Indonesia — An Argentine woman and a British man went on trial Thursday on charges of smuggling cocaine to the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. If convicted, they could face up to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors say Eleonora Gracia, 46, was arrested in March at Bali's airport with 244 grams (half a pound) of cocaine wrapped in a condom hidden in her vagina. Authorities alleged that she handed over the cocaine to Elliot James Shaw, 50, at a hotel near a Bali beach.
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Associated Press
Argentine woman and British man go on trial in Bali accused of smuggling cocaine
DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — An Argentine woman and a British man went on trial Thursday on charges of smuggling cocaine to the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. If convicted, they could face up to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors say Eleonora Gracia, 46, was arrested in March at Bali's airport with 244 grams (half a pound) of cocaine wrapped in a condom hidden in her vagina. Authorities alleged that she handed over the cocaine to Elliot James Shaw, 50, at a hotel near a Bali beach. Prosecutors at the District Court in Denpasar, Bali's provincial capital, said they violated anti-narcotics laws that carry a penalty of up to 12 years in prison. After the charges against Gracia and Shaw were read out in the Bali court, a panel of three judges adjourned the trial until July 3. The court is expected to deliver its verdict next month. Gracia and Shaw wore face masks as they sat next to each other in court. Neither they nor their lawyers spoke in court or to reporters covering the trial. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. Indonesian authorities on Monday arrested 285 people suspected of drug trafficking, including 29 women and seven foreigners, and seized over half a ton of narcotics during a two-month crackdown. About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed last month. Indonesia's last executions, of a citizen and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016. ___ Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
