The gang of five women and two men were recruited by crime bosses to undertake the criminal operation – and each were offered between $4,000 and $5,000 as well as travel expenses
A major drug smuggling operation which saw criminals hiding in an airport toilet was foiled by police, who arrested two would-be cocaine suppliers as they lay “naked” in bed.
Crime bosses had recruited five women and two men from America to pick up 12 drug-filled bags at Manchester Airport with the promise of “considerable” payments.
But the plan fell apart when an x-ray machine detected the bricks of cocaine in one of the bags. Three of the gang were arrested in the airport while another four were nicked in rooms at the nearby DoubleTree Hilton Hotel – two of whom were naked in bed when the cops busted in.
In total, police found 300kg of cocaine, worth £8million, in the gang’s possession. And now, six people have been jailed for their roles in the “sophisticated” operation. Another is awaiting a further court hearing.
The recruited members – all US nationals – were split into ‘teams’ and travelled to Manchester on different flights, Manchester Crown Court was told.
Brian Marealle, 32, and Laquesa Greer, 50, flew in from JFK Airport in New York. Charles Mass, 29, and his girlfriend Brianna Hunt, 22, came to the UK from Orlando. And Yulibeth Gonzalez, 26, Leandra Royer, 26, and Chloe Sandoval, 24, flew 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 containing between 22 and 24 blocks of cocaine. Each had different a name tag.
The members were each given the details of two cases to collect. Each were told they would be paid between $4,000 and $5,000, plus travel expenses.
The ‘key orchestrator’ was a person named in court as ‘Nate’. He worked ‘in close connection’ with an associate called ‘Cruz’, prosecutors said. They recruited members; made travel arrangements; and communicated with them via WhatsApp and Telegram.
Royer helped recruit some of the others. In a message to a friend, she promised it was quick cash and that claimed nobody had ever been arrested and said it was ‘100 per cent secure’. Mass recruited his girlfriend, Hunt.
A previous trip on May 11 saw Mass fly from Barbados to Manchester with no luggage. He stayed at the Holiday Inn for a night. A suitcase containing 20kg of cocaine was left unclaimed at baggage.
On May 24, Mass, Hunt and Marealle travelled to Manchester from Cancun. The the court heard that was a ‘failed trip’. A message sent to Maraelle read: “Cases didn’t make it.”
In a message to ‘Nate’ a week before the trip which ended in her arrest, Greer said: “As long as I go and come back safely and get the money, I’m good.”
On May 31, a member of staff at Terminal 2 baggage spotted a bag with ‘unusual contents’ – rectangular shaped blocks. More bags were flagged before Border Force officers struck.
The group had been given instructions to hide in the toilets before getting the cases. Sandoval picked up a bag and took it somewhere in Bury, before returning to the Hilton. Gonzalez picked up a case, but was stopped. The last message sent from her phone, to ‘Nate’, read: “I got caught.”
Mass and Hunt ‘aborted their plan’ and made their way to the Hilton, where they were joined by Royer, who had been ‘tipped off’. Marealle and Greer were detained as they stood by the carousel.
Later that day, Royer and Sandoval were arrested at the Hilton. Mass and Hunt were naked in bed when they were detained. One case has never been found while the rest contained cocaine with a wholesale value of around £700,000.
Sandoval, Hunt, Royer, Greer, Mass and Gonzalez, all of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to frequently evading the prohibition of the importation of a Class A controlled drug before a trial was due to begin. Marealle, also of no fixed address, stood trial and was convicted by a jury.
Marealle was sentenced to 13 years; Mass and Royer to 11 years and eight months; Gonzalez to nine years; Hunt to seven years and six months; and Greer to eight years and six months. Once they are released, they face automatic deportation to the US. Sandoval will be sentenced on February 14.
Passing sentence, Judge Tom Gilbart said it was a ‘considerable’ and ‘sophisticated’ operation. He said all those involved ‘knew they were doing something obviously illegal’, but ‘wanted to make money’.
“However it was nothing compared to the cost of the risk you were taking on for others,” the judge told them. He said Marealle, Mass and Royer played a ‘significant’ role as they had a ‘great knowledge of the scale of the enterprise’.
The judge said Hunt – who was ‘young, naïve and impressionable’ – Gonzalez, and Greer, who is suffering with cancer, played 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 added.
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