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by IANS |
London, May 22 (IANS) A 41-year-old Indian-origin woman from London has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for acting as a money and drug courier for a Buckinghamshire-based organised crime group.
Mandeep Kaur of Pocklington Close, London, was arrested in June 2020 with 50,000 pounds in cash, following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU).
She was found guilty last week by a majority jury of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and a unanimous jury of conspiracy to possess criminal property at Aylesbury Crown Court, following a two-week trial.
The court heard that Kaur, who is said to have delivered a kilo of cocaine three days before her arrest, had undertaken a number of journeys for a criminal group who were responsible for supplying cocaine across the country.
"Kaur's involvement in the OCG (Organised Crime Group) in this case was significant. She willingly delivered and collected criminal money under instruction from a senior member of the group," Investigating officer, Detective Constable Dale Lester of SEROCU, said.
He said that on one occasion, Kaur went one step further and moved a kilo of cocaine -- acts she decided to do of her own free will for financial gain.
Kaur was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months' imprisonment for her part in a large-scale drug supply conspiracy.
"This conviction is a demonstration of SEROCU's ongoing commitment in tackling and dismantling organised crime across the South East and further afield," Lester said.
Kaur's arrest comes just days after three Indian-origin members of an organised crime group -- Kuran Gill, Jag Singh and Govind Bahia -- were jailed for smuggling cannabis worth around 1 million pounds into the UK from Canada earlier this month.
Last week, Joshpal Singh Kothiria was convicted for conspiring to supply drugs worth millions of pounds from the Netherlands to the UK and Ireland, following a National Crime Agency investigation.
