Vacation Travel, on Corn Market, was targeted in a morning raid by the Serious Organised Crime Unit

Travel agent's was raided by police as part of a money laundering investigation in the north of England.
Vacation Travel, on Corn Market, was targeted in a morning raid by the Serious Organised Crime Unit, who spent three hours poring over financial records and transactions of the company.
Staff were left shocked by the surprise raid and one customer contacted the Courier fearing her pre-booked holiday would be cancelled.All four branches of Vacation Travel, in Blackpool, Cleveleys, Durham and Halifax were hit at the same time in the sting.The company, which specialises in flights and cruises to the Canary Islands, said it was operating as normal and no holidays had been affected by the raid.
Its managing director Stuart Arnott said he was angry but refused to comment on Tuesday morning's raid.A police spokesman said: "The raids were in connection with a money-laundering inquiry that is ongoing."

Paula Richards

Paula Richards, 45, of Bennett Square, Whipton, was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Exeter Crown Court yesterday.
The court heard that Richards was asked to bring heroin into prison by her partner Thomas Smith, 29, because he was being threatened by another person.
A telephone call from Smith to Richards was recorded and, although reluctant at first, she agreed to bring in the drugs and did so on June 9.
She went to the prison and was seen on CCTV removing an item from the front of her trousers and passing it to Smith, who put it down his trousers. Prison officers found it to be 3.25g of heroin with a street value in the region of £200.
Richards was arrested and when she was interview admitted taking the drug into the prison.

Neil Mounce

Neil Mounce was growing cannabis after a raid at his home in Pinwood Meadow Drive, Beacon Heath.Officers found cannabis plants being grown, dried and bagged up for sale, and £4,500 in drugs-related cash. Exeter Crown Court heard Mounce also bred reptiles as a hobby.has admitted: producing 261gms of cannabis over 11 months; possessing 364gms of cannabis with intent to supply when he was arrested; possession of 29gms of cannabis and four sedative tablets and possessing criminal property of £4,500 cash. He also pleaded guilty to charges of supplying class C drugs, involving cannabis and cannabis resin.

Kamran Amin

Kamran Amin, 32, was convicted of money laundering charges after almost £58,000 cash was discovered in his Breckon Hill Road home in Middlesbrough in April.
He was found guilty of nine charges of possessing criminal property at Teesside Crown Court. .
Prosecutor Rupert Doswell said forensic analysis revealed that between 94 and 100pc of tested bank notes were contaminated with heroin.

Shahid Nazir Bhatti

Shahid Nazir Bhatti, 45, from Bradford, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court to conspiracy to launder the proceeds of criminal conduct. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment by HHJ Marson QC. Bhatti is the last of 11 individuals to be convicted after HMRC officers uncovered the massive money laundering ring centred on West Yorkshire cities .

statue of the Virgin Mary

British customs officers seized cocaine worth $30,400 concealed in a parcel that contained a number of religious artefacts including a statue of the Virgin Mary, a Bible and a rosary.
The cocaine was hidden in a badge adorned with a picture of the Last Supper. The drugs were found in a routine check on a parcel sent from Brazil and destined for an address in London.

Intent to Supply

woman who supplied counterfeit prescription drugs to the UK was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for money laundering offences. The woman from Uxbridge was arrested as part of a joint investigation between the City of London Police, and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Police officers, along with Enforcement Officers from the MHRA, found counterfeit prescription drugs worth over £250,000, including more than 50,000 units of one particular drug when they searched an address in November 2006. In addition, twelve passports were found hidden inside a suitcase and a total of 30 bank and visa cards were also recovered. The defendant was also charged with offences under the Identity Card Act. Investigators discovered that the drugs originated in Pakistan and were then mailed to the woman. She was paid in cash and this money was then credited to a bank account in a pseudonym used in one of the false passports. In July 2007 the defendant was subsequently charged with trademark offences, possession with intent to supply class C drugs and money laundering. Detective Constable Wilson McQuitty,City of London Police Economic Crime Department, said: "This woman was exploiting people who genuinely needed these drugs for her own personal gain. Together with colleagues from the MHRA we were able to take these drugs out of circulation and seize numerous fake documents and bank cards which were being used to launder the money she was making." Mick Deats, Head of Enforcement MHRA, said: "Today's result sends out a very clear warning that dealing in counterfeit medicines doesn't pay. The MHRA will continue to clamp down on those who flout the law and put the public's health at risk. People should ensure that they only obtain their medicines from legitimate outlets, e.g. their doctor or pharmacist. If people do not then there can be no guarantee to their safety, quality or indeed that they work. At best these medicines could be a waste of money, at worst they could be severely detrimental to your health." The woman was sentenced to 12 months for the false identity offences and 18 months for the two cases of possession with intent to supply Class C drugs.

Operation Nemesis

16 men and one woman were charged after 25 simultaneous drugs raids were conducted by Staffordshire Police in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. This was part of Operation Nemesis, Staffordshire Police's continuing crackdown on major drug dealers which resulted in 22 arrests. One man, who was arrested on suspicion of offences linked to counterfeit clothing including money laundering, was bailed pending further investigation. Officers seized numerous items of evidence including two firearms, various quantities of drugs, computer equipment, and significant amounts of cash

David Case, 44, Sebastian Stephen, 41

David Case, 44, of Kingarth Street, Cardiff, and a second man, Sebastian Stephen, 41, of Adventurers Quay, Cardiff Bay – alleged to have been the mule organiser

from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, and Bolton, Lancashire

The men, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, and Bolton, Lancashire, were reportedly planning to stash the drug in loudspeakers before smuggling it on to planes. They were arrested at a luxury hotel with 1kg of pure cocaine.

Lindiwe Harriet Luthuli, 40

stewardess Lindiwe Harriet Luthuli, 40, pleaded guilty to smuggling 5kg of cocaine and 10kg of herbal cannabis - valued at about £325 000 (more than R3,5-million) - into the United Kingdom. She is expected to be sentenced in Isleworth Crown Court