EncroChat cocaine kingpin James Harding who plotted murder from Dubai jailed for life

TWO Brits behind a multi-million pound cocaine empire run from Dubai, who plotted the murder of a rival dealer using encrypted mobile phones have been jailed for life.

James Harding, 34, and Jayes Kharouti, 39, today appeared at the Old Bailey for sentence after they were found guilty of the murder plot at the court on Tuesday.

The pair thought messages and images sent on the "secure" EncroChat mobile phone system would never be seen outside his criminal network, but it was infiltrated by specialist cyber police in France.

But, Harding was snared by clothes and tattoos caught in selfies he sent posing in supercars, as being the kingpin behind a £30 million cocaine empire run from Dubai and the murder plot.

Judge Anthony Leonard KC said: "It is hard to comprehend that the quantity of cocaine that the EncroChat messages revealed was imported, or was about to be imported, in only a period of approximately two and a half months. Those messages, as I stated when sentencing your co-defendants detail somewhere in the region of 1,000kgs of cocaine being imported and then distributed in smaller quantities throughout the

country.

"The street value of that amount of cocaine is in excess of £30 million and the profit on such quantities would have been very substantial. Without the benefit of EncroChat your scale of offending would never have been apparent."

The profit was estimated during the trial at £5 million.

Harding was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and of conspiracy to murder a rival drug dealer on Tuesday, following a heavily-guarded seven week trial at the Old Bailey.

Kharouti earlier admitted on November 8 2024 the conspiracy to supply class A drugs offence, but denied being involved in the murder plot. He was also convicted of conspiracy to murder on Tuesday.

Judge Leonard added: It is on that quantity that I sentence you but it was clear from the EncroChat messages and from your evidence, Kharouti, that you had been involved in the importation and distribution of drugs for a very much longer period and on a scale that is unimaginable. At one point you. Kharouti, said that the organisation of which you were a part had imported 2.6 tonnes of cocaine. The only relevance of that longer period is to identify the obvious: your drug trading did not start on the first day that the EncroChat messages were successfully obtained."

EncroChat was used by up to 60,000 organised criminals worldwide, including about 9,000 UK users, when French officers cracked the encryption and secured some historic data sent on the devices and captured new ones being sent.

Data for UK users was passed to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and filtered to local forces, including the Met Police, that brought the prosecution.

Armed police maintained a constant presence around the court as it heard Met Police analysis of thousands of the messages between the men and criminal associates uncovered a plan to shoot dead a drug courier, after they suspected 10kgs of their drugs had been stolen.

There were also messages about delivering millions of pounds worth of drugs across the UK and how to launder the proceeds.

Harding used the handle “thetopsking”, while Kharouti used “besttops” and "topsybricks" while messaging.

The jury heard that 9,136 messages were sent via EncroChat between them from March to June 2020.

From 2019 to 2022 Harding held a UAE Residence Permit, listing him as a sales executive sponsored by a luxury watch company.

But, the court heard that approximately 50 cocaine importations were made into the UK, with a total weight of one tonne, between April and June 2020.

The court heard that Harding sourced cocaine in the Netherlands and arranged its importation into the UK in lorries through Dover in consignments of between 20kg and 160kg.

DS Paul Dempsey, a member of the Drug Expert Witness & Valuation Association, analysed the messages and said they discussed the logistics of deliveries of multi-kilo amounts of cocaine, with each importation involving tens of kilos.

The messages showed that once in the UK, it was broken into smaller parcels, of between 5kg and 10kg, and distributed across the UK to wholesale purchasers, who would then sell to end users.

The conspirators purchased the cocaine for about £30,000 per kg and sold it for up to £40,000 per kg, making £60 to 70,000 per importation.

The court heard “thetopsking” directed from Dubai the bulk purchase, the importation, and supply of cocaine by others within the UK and the receipt and delivery of the cash proceeds.

He remained very involved and directed Kharouti and others via EncroChat to collect the drugs near Dover by providing the coordinates and to distribute it across the UK using couriers and money collectors.

He would then provide details of where consignments should be delivered to, using vans with concealments.

Drops were made from Reading to Oxford and Sheffield and Nottingham, as well as across the capital.

The court heard messages showed Harding also controlled the money laundering operation, through legitimate businesses, before proceeds were returned to him in Dubai.

So much money was flowing that he paid £70,000 for Kharouti to fly back to the UK from Dubai on a private jet after his father died.

In one message Kharouti, who admitted being a seasoned drug supplier, said his work with Harding, who sourced the cocaine, had made him a "Trap God", placing him at the top end of the trade.

Among discussions was a conspiracy to murder a rival drug gang member, involving recruiting paid hitmen, arranging firearms and getaway vehicles. They also discussed times, dates and locations.

A self-loading Glock pistol and ammunition was later found at the address of Peter Thompson, 61, who sourced the weapon, and was jailed for 21 years for the offence last year.

But, the group was so convinced by the security of EncroChat, they also discussed social events, family gatherings and sent selfies, including pictures take in cars and at a lavish villa at The Nest development in Al Barari, Dubai, where the units have floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a swimming pool and rooms for maids and drivers.

Harding lived at the address with partner, 33, from Liverpool, and daughter, 15, who he treated as his own.

In another exchange of EncroChat messages with the handle 'hyper-hawk', thetopsking referred to having been released from prison four years earlier, having received a sentence of nine years' imprisonment when he was 21.

The court heard that on May 6, 2020, thetopsking told a number of contacts that he was taking his "Mrs" out that evening, and added to one that he was taking her to Zuma, an award-winning Japanese restaurant in Dubai.

Investigations found that two days earlier Harding made the booking from a personal email account.

On May 14 2020, "thetopsking" said in messages that he was staying at the five-star Waldorf hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and sent an image of the hotel pool area via EncroChat.

Prosecuting, Duncan Atkinson KC had told the trial: "Enquiries with the Hilton Hotel Group showed that Harding stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in the United Arab Emirates and gave (his) mobile telephone number and produced a UAE identification card.

"During the stay, thetopsking had sent an image of James Harding relaxing on a sun lounger at, of all places, the Waldorf."

On March 26 2020, thetopsking said in a message that he had got back a Lamborghini Urus and sent an image of the dashboard.

Mr Atkinson said: "The person who took the image caught their leg in the photograph, and on that leg is a tattoo which matches the tattoo on James Harding's leg."

Part of a pair of shorts that Harding was wearing in another sent image, was also visible.

Harding was also seen in the driver's seat of a £2.5 million Bugatti Chiron in a video found on an associate's phone.

Kharouti, of Depot Road, Epsom’s, home was searched in 2020 after he was linked to the messages. Police found a handset with the same number he gave to Harding. He fled the country shortly after this, before being found in Turkey and extradited back to the UK.

Harding, originally of Alton, Hampshire, was arrested on Monday, 27 December 2021 at Geneva Airport, Switzerland. On Friday, 27 May 2022, he was extradited from Switzerland to the UK when he was arrested by Met officers.

Despite the evidence, Harding, who had previously been imprisoned for drug offences, insisted he was not "thetopsking".

The trial was delayed several times after cyber experts commissioned by the defence put forward arguments that the EncroChat data could not be relied upon as the French refused to divulge how it was captured, saying this was a "state secret".

When the trial went ahead with the message evidence, he put forward a convoluted defence that "thetopsking" was actually his partner's former lover and the biological father of her dauugter.

Softly-spoken Harding refused to name "thetopsking", for fear of reprisals, but said the "generous and wealthy" drug dealer was funding their lifestyle, so that he was able to live close to his daughter.

Harding told the jury of a "dark secret", he had never before revealed, that from December 2019, he entered into an intense sexual affair with "thetopsking", who he affectionally referred to as "TK".

He said this was why there were so many selfies of him on "TK's" EncroChat device because he "felt flattered" by him wanting selfies of him on his EncroChat handset, and gladly let him take several during the whirlwind romance.

Harding was born with hemifacial microsomia, a condition which causes the left side of the face to be under-developed, and underwent multiple surgeries to try to correct it, leading to insecurities, the court heard.

Defending Harding, Clare Montgomery KC, produced EncroChat messages, not relied upon by the prosecution, which she suggested showed her client and TK arranging meetings on the encrypted device.

A DNA test also confirmed Harding was not the girl's biological father.

But, under cross examination, he struggled to explain why "thetopsking" had sent messages in the first person, which appeared to be about Harding himself, such as discussing the death of his grandfather known as Big G, who died just before is 87th birtday.

In another exchange of EncroChat messages with the handle 'hyper-hawk', thetopsking referred to having been released from prison four years earlier, having received a sentence of nine years' imprisonment when he was 21.

Records showed that Harding was sentenced to nine years and eight months imprisonment when he was 21 years and seven months old, for his "involvement in a leading role in a sophisticated operation for the supply and importation of mephedrone and other drugs", the court heard.

Kharouti admitted being involved in discussions about the murder plot, but he tried to convince the jury it was all a huge joke and there had never been any intention to carry it out.

The EncroChat investigations countrywide were managed by the National Crime Agency, which took on several probes and passed others to local police forces.

More than 2,600 people have been arrested and more than 1,300 charges with many already jailed for several years.

The Met hailed the convictions of Harding and Kharouti as one of the "largest EncroChat investigations in history."

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Casey, who led the investigation, said: “This conviction sends a clear message: no matter how sophisticated the methods, criminals cannot hide behind encrypted software.

“This operation dismantled a major supply chain and is a testament to the relentless work of our officers.

“We monitored their drug-dealing activity but then we saw the group discussing the contract killing of a rival.  We moved fast to protect those in danger.

“Harding and Kharouti planned to kill, we stopped that and put them before the courts.”

Harding received a 30-year determinate sentence for the drugs offence, to run concurrently with life for the murder plot with a minimum term of 32 years, but he will serve 28yrs and 183 days after time on remand and awaiting extradition was taken into account.

Kharouti got 18 years and nine months for the drugs and life with a minimum term of 26 years, but he will now serve 23 years and 148 days due to time already served.

Confiscation proceedings against the pair will begin next year.