Five women and two men had been recruited by crime bosses and promised "considerable" payments as they were flown to the UK with instructions to collect 12 bags of the Class A drug
Drug smugglers from the US were caught naked in by police after running an £8m cocaine ring through Manchester Airport.
Five women and two men had been promised "considerable" payments by crime chiefs, before being flown to the UK with instructions to collect 12 bags, which contained a total of over 300kg of the Class A drug. However, their plan was soon in tatters when one of the bags triggered an alarm after going through an X-ray machine.
Three members of the group were immediately arrested, while four others were apprehended in rooms at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, located opposite the airport. Two of them were found naked in bed when police officers stormed in.
Six individuals have since been sentenced for their involvement in the ’sophisticated’ operation, which prosecutors claim was ’orchestrated’ by higher-ranking criminals. Another person is awaiting sentencing.
They had been recruited by crime bosses and promised "considerable" payments ( Image: Greater Manchester Police (GMP))
The recruited members, all US nationals, were divided into ’teams’ and arrived in Manchester on separate flights, as revealed in Manchester Crown Court. Brian Marealle, 32, and Laquesa Greer, 50, travelled from JFK Airport in New York, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Charles Mass, 29, and his girlfriend Brianna Hunt, 22, flew in from Orlando. Yulibeth Gonzalez, 26, Leandra Royer, 26, and Chloe Sandoval, 24, journeyed from Los Angeles via Dusseldorf.
Their arrivals - on the morning of May 31 last year - were timed to coincide with an incoming flight from Cancun. On that plane were 12 suitcases, each packed with between 22 and 24 blocks of cocaine, each labelled with a different name tag.
A six-person criminal crew who jetted around the world to collect suitcases stuffed with cocaine have been busted. Each member was tasked with fetching two cases, promised payments of between $4,000 and $5,000, and travel costs.
Described as the "key orchestrator," a figure known as ’Nate’ operated closely with an associate called ’Cruz’, court docs reveal. This duo recruited members, took care of travel, and stayed in touch via WhatsApp and Telegram.
Terminal 2, Manchester Airport ( Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Accomplice Royer recruited others and pitched the gig as easy money, assuring in a text it was "100 per cent secure" with no arrests ever made. Mass dragged his girlfriend Hunt into the mix.
On May 11, Mass’ solo Barbados-Manchester flight raised suspicions when he arrived without any bags but an unclaimed suitcase packed with 20kg of coke lingered at the airport. Another attempt on May 24 ended fruitlessly; evidenced by a message to Marealle saying: "Cases didn’t make it."
Prior to Greer’s arrest-bound trip, she texted ’Nate’: "As long as I go and come back safely and get the money, I’m good."
But the plot unravelled on May 31 at Terminal 2 when staff spotted telltale blocks in a bag, leading Border Force officers to pounce on the gang.
The gang had a plan to snatch suitcases from an airport carousel, with instructions to initially hide in the toilets. Sandoval grabbed a bag and dashed off to Bury, then returned to the Hilton hotel. Gonzalez wasn’t so lucky; she was caught red-handed with a case. Her last text to ’Nate’ chillingly read: "I got caught."
Mass and Hunt ditched their part of the scheme and headed back to the Hilton, soon joined by Royer who had been tipped off. Marealle and Greer were nabbed by the carousel.
Later that day, Royer and Sandoval were arrested at the Hilton, while Mass and Hunt were found naked in bed when they were apprehended. One suitcase remains missing, but the others were packed with cocaine worth about £700,000 wholesale.
Sandoval, Hunt, Royer, Greer, Mass, and Gonzalez, all without a permanent address, admitted to dodging the ban on importing Class A drugs before their trial could kick off. Marealle, also of no fixed abode, faced a jury and lost.
Marealle got hit with a 13-year sentence; Mass and Royer each received 11 years and eight months; Gonzalez got nine years; Hunt was sentenced to seven years and six months; and Greer to eight years and six months. They’re all staring down the barrel of deportation to the US after serving time.
Sandoval’s fate will be sealed on February 14.
Judge Tom Gilbart, delivering the sentences, described the crime as both ’considerable’ and ’sophisticated’, noting that the culprits were well aware of the illegality but were driven by the lure of easy money.
"However it was nothing compared to the cost of the risk you were taking on for others," the judge admonished. He highlighted that Marealle, Mass, and Royer were significantly involved due to their ’great knowledge of the scale of the enterprise’.
The judge noted that Hunt, described as "young, naïve and impressionable", along with Gonzalez, and Greer, who is battling cancer, had a "lesser role".
"Each of you were taken advantage of by more sophisticated criminals who preyed on your naïve and foolish view that you could make easy money," he concluded.
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