The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that it has recovered approximately £5.8m in total linked to an international money laundering network. As the final element of a civil recovery investigation surrounding the assets of Gregory Candy-Wallace, the NCA obtained a recovery order for over £1m making the total assets recovered in this investigation £5.8m. The NCA has argued that these assets were being used by an organised crime group to divert more than £50m of Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and National Insurance Contribution (NIC) away from the HMRC.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported the conviction of a second port worker involved in importing what they believed to be cocaine, but was actually dummy packages planted by the NCA. Michael Jordan was working at Portsmouth, where officers watched him on CCTV separate pallets which he believed contained cocaine and move them into a separate warehouse. After an investigation by the NCA, Jordan was arrested alongside accomplice David Oliver and lorry driver Ahmet Aydin, on suspicion of conspiracy to import class A drugs. Jordan has been convicted on 7 July 2023 at Portsmouth Crown Court and sentenced to 21 years in prison on 11 July 2023.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that Erion Nakdi, who was arrested in November 2020 for using the encrypted messaging platform EncroChat to run an illegal drug supply network, has been sentenced after pleading guilty at Luton Crown Court to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possessing criminal property and money laundering offences. Nakdi was found to have exchanged over 4,000 messages detailing his plans to supply multiple areas across the UK, including London, Kent, Norwich, Manchester and Liverpool and claimed he was able to bring over 50 kilos of cocaine in a week through his contacts in South America. He has been jailed for 16 years and 3 months.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that Xhuljan Shehu, has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison at Isleworth Crown Court on 29 September 2023 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine at the same court on 22 March 2022. This investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK law enforcement response to the July 2020 takedown of the EncroChat encrypted communication service. NCA investigators found that Shehu had used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to supply 30 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of £1.05m. The NCA has said that further investigation uncovered that Shehu had used a fraudulent Greek passport to secure the tenancy on the flat used to orchestrate the criminal behaviour and that Shehu possessed a bank card in the same name.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that on 8 August 2023 Jamaine Salmon, Gary Fenton and Karl Francomb have been sentenced for offences relating to the sale of firearms and drugs as well as money laundering at Manchester Crown Court. As part of Operation Venetic, it was discovered that the defendants used encrypted communications platform Encrochat, which was taken down in 2020, to conduct criminal activity. The communications explicitly referred to the purchase of a Skorpion firearm as well as referencing the sales of heroin, cocaine, mixing agents, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis. Salmon was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment, Fenton to 17 years and Francomb to eight years.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that Ryan Hawkins has been sentenced for raping a toddler, sexually assaulting another child and sharing graphic images of the assault online. The NCA has provided that Hawkins admitted to sexually abusing the toddler on two separate occasions and also sexually assaulting a young boy during interview, and he was charged with the rape and assault of a girl under 13, sexual assault of a male under 13, two counts of making indecent images of a child and one of distributing indecent images of a child. Hawkins pleaded guilty to all the charges on 16 November 2021 at Liverpool Crown Court and was sentenced to 17 years in prison in the same court.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that, Tayyab Iqbal, Andrew Worby and Onasis Depass, have been jailed for a combined 28 years following a NCA sting operation caught them exchanging 25 kilos of cocaine. On 8 September 2023 they appeared at Birmingham Crown Court where Iqbal was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment and Worby and Depass six years each. NCA officers watched Iqbal remove the cocaine from a storage unit before exchanging it with Worby and Depass for a bag containing £20,000. The NCA worked in collaboration with the Central Motorway Police Group to intercept the van driven by Depass and Worby, containing the 25 kilos of cocaine. Depass and Worby were arrested roadside, with Iqbal being arrested later at his home address.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that, Waheed Zaman and Aweis Bashir, have been sentenced to 22 and 16 years' imprisonment, respectively, at Loughborough Crown Court on 29 September 2023. Zaman and Bashir were arrested following an investigation that formed part of Operation Venetic, the UKs response to the take down of EncroChat. The NCA has asserted that EncroChat messages between the two, and with other offenders, provided evidence of the distribution of Class A and B drugs as well as firearms and ammunition.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that a convicted human trafficker has been removed from the UK for the third time following an NCA investigation. Hazir Lala has previously been convicted of a range of offences including driving offences, possession and control of false ID documents and organized immigration crime offences. He was sentenced to a five-year jail term and ordered to pay a fine of €102,000 (€51,000 suspended) for human trafficking and participating in a criminal organization in Belgium. Lala returned to the UK after his sentence was suspended and he was released after a few months. Lala was located in Walthamstow by NCA officers, arrested under the Immigration Act 1971 for overstaying, taken into custody and handed to Immigration Compliance and Enforcement for deportation.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that a recent survey conducted with children aged 10–16 found that one in five children engage in behaviours that breach the Computer Misuse Act 1990. The Act criminalises users who access computer systems and data unauthorised. The consequences of committing these offences include being arrested and given a criminal record, having your phone or computer confiscated, risk of expulsion and limited internet use, career opportunities and international travel.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that following a NCA-led international disruption campaign, the UK, US and Australia have sanctioned Dmitry Khoroshev, the administrator and developer of LockBit. LockBit provided ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) to a global network of hackers or ‘affiliates’, supplying them with the tools and infrastructure to carry out attacks, with the top five countries hit being the US, UK, France, Germany and China. Khoroshev will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans, whilst the US have offered a reward of up to $10m for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has reported that £2.35m has been returned to Dalaid and The Schwarzschild Foundation following an NCA investigation. The NCA found that Barry Marcus MBE was holding the funds in personal accounts having failed to distribute the funds since 2022. Barry Marcus has agreed to return the funds to the charities.