Three men have today been jailed for their involvement in a drug enterprise which saw the large scale selling of drugs on the dark web and their onward transmission via post in disguised packaging.

Five members of an organised criminal gang, which falsely claimed more than £53 million in Universal Credit in the largest benefit fraud in England and Wales, have been jailed.

Two men have been jailed for their role in operating an organised crime group which laundered more than £12 million of criminally obtained cash in the UK. 

Semen Kuksov, 23, and Andrii Dzektsa, 27, were sentenced to five years and seven months and five years imprisonment respectively at Southwark Crown Court on 1 February 2024 after they both pleaded guilty to two counts of entering into a money laundering arrangement. 

The CPS prosecuted Kuksov, and Dzetska, both of Kensington, London, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). 

A man who blackmailed women and children into engaging in degrading sexual acts has today been jailed.

Anthony Burns (AKA Danny Burns), 39, has been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment plus a five-year extended licence for 41 offences including blackmail, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, causing sexual exploitation of a child and making and distributing indecent images of a child (IIOC).

The CPS authorised the charges against Burns, formerly of Lowestoft in Suffolk, following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.

 An illegal money service bureau owner who operated as a banker for criminals smuggling migrants into the UK has today been convicted. 

Asghar Gheshlaghian, 48, was found guilty of money laundering and immigration-related offences following a trial at Southwark Crown Court on 18 January 2023.

The CPS prosecuted Gheshlaghian, of Newham, London, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

A sex offender who assaulted a teenage girl after stealing her phone from her has been jailed for two more years.

The CPS prosecuted Ishtiaq Khaliq, 40, after an investigation by officers from the National Crime Agency’s Operation Stovewood, which is looking into allegations of non-familial child sexual abuse and exploitation which took place in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2013.

A man who blackmailed children into sending him indecent images of themselves over social media has today been jailed.

Ishmael Lance Duncan, 24, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment plus a six-year extended licence at Inner London Crown Court on 1 December 2023 after he pleaded guilty to a total of 50 charges relating to child sexual abuse. The charges included blackmail, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and making and possessing indecent images of children (IIOC).

Four members of an organised crime group and a criminal associate have been imprisoned today (Thursday 7 December 2023)  for their roles in the importation and distribution of huge quantities of cocaine and cannabis, at Stafford Crown Court.