Eleven men have been sentenced to a total of more than 65 years between them for their roles laundering £1m in drug money over a six-month period including a sale of 50kg of ketamine.

Baljinder Kang, 31, lived a luxurious lifestyle, spending money at Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and Harrods, wearing designer watches, driving expensive cars and traveling regularly to the United Arab Emirates. He was arrested on his way to Gatwick airport to travel to Dubai.

Sukhjinder Pooney, 34, also helped run the organised crime group.

They laundered the cash through ‘sham’ companies before sending the funds to a bank account in Dubai in the UAE.

Kang and Pooney regularly changed phones to avoid detection. A drugs ledger was found on Kang’s bedside table detailing the sales and purchases of kilo quantities of drugs. He travelled to Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Wigan, to arrange sales of drugs.

Kieran O’Kane, Amir Ali and Aminoor Ahmed had an active role in the operation; setting up limited companies in Slough and bank accounts, collecting and depositing vast amounts of money in circumstances where they could not have failed to appreciate that the money was criminal.

They were sentenced today (26 July 2019) at Kingston Crown Court after a series of trials and guilty pleas.

Giorgina Venturella, of the CPS, said: “Baljinder Kang had a number of criminal associates who performed the hands-on work.

"He sought to keep himself as far as possible from the physical handover of drugs and money, and the laundering of the funds. He used several mobile phones at one time, relying on ‘throwaway’ phones when planning criminal activity.

“He sometimes took a more direct role, communicating and meeting with others to facilitate the handover of large sums of criminal money.

"Money launderer Sukhjinder Pooney, directed the actions of Amir Ali, Aminoor Ahmed and Kieran O’Kane.

“There were multiple strands to the conspiracy but the prosecution was able to prove each of these men knew they were part of a criminal endeavour."