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4w ago

Drug Kingpins Jailed for Life Over Murder Plot and £30m Cocaine Smuggling

French police’s breach of EncroChat uncovered messages detailing a plan to import about a tonne of cocaine into the UK; Judge Anthony Leonard KC imposed a minimum term of 32 years on Harding followed by a minimum term of 26 years for Kharouti.

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Overview

  • Harding, 34, and Kharouti, 39, were sentenced at the Old Bailey on 26 June 2025 to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 32 and 26 years respectively.
  • Prosecutors traced roughly 1,000kg of cocaine smuggled into the UK between April and June 2020, with a street value exceeding £30 million.
  • Encrypted EncroChat messages revealed the duo’s plot to hire a hitman for up to £200,000 to murder a rival courier using a “double tap” approach.
  • During the conspiracy, Harding lived a luxury lifestyle in Dubai, posing as a watch sales executive and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars.
  • The case followed French police’s crack of EncroChat encryption and data sharing with Scotland Yard, part of a wider operation that has secured over 500 convictions and more than 5,000 years of sentences.