Denis Xhelili, 38, worked with Sulaiman Bawa, 53, formerly of Peacock Avenue, Feltham, London, who ran a cargo company to be used as a guide to import cocaine and heroin into the UK via air freight from South America, South Asia and the Middle East.
Xhelili had contacts abroad willing to hide the vast amounts of drugs within hollowed-out pallets in shipments heading into the country, which would have been received by Bawa’s company Airport Cargo Care.
During their trial in December 2022, evidence was heard that they planned to import 3,058 kilogrammes of cocaine and 2,357 kilogrammes of heroin.
If successfully imported and ultimately broken down into ‘street deals’, the potential value of these drugs would have totalled over £361 million.
The pair had used the encrypted communications tool Encrochat to plan their activities in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
However, Encrochat servers were seized under Operation Venetic, uncovering thousands of message exchanges by criminals.
Xhelili was attributed to the Encrochat handle ‘QUAILSTAR’ but denied using the platform, despite a calendar event on his phone indicating delivery of a charger for the exact device he was using to his home address.
A picture message from the phone also showed his living room in the background, with other images showing his tattooed arm, watch, clothing and distinctive orange car.
When being interviewed by detectives, he attempted to argue that he could not read or write English, despite this being the set language on his seized phone.
Bawa was identified as the Encrochat user ‘PARKPOINT’ and was at the time running a customs clearance company based close to London Heathrow Airport.
He was jailed in April for seven-and-a-half years after investigators matched an Encrochat photo showing a reflection of a distinctive light shade to one found in a bedroom in his house.
At a hearing at Chichester Crown Court, Xhelili was jailed for ten years, with a further ten years to be spent on licence.
