While airlines will reward big spenders who collect a lot of miles with perks ranging from a free suitcase to free ticket changes and lounge access, collecting too many too fast can also be a sign of something illicit.
That is, at least, what tipped off authorities trying to trace the origins of smugglers illegally moving large amounts of cash out of the U.K. to Dubai.
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Back in 2020, Britain’s customs officers arrested two women flying with nearly £500,000 ($636,000 USD) from London to Dubai. After investigating, the National Crime Agency (NCA) uncovered that they were couriers in a much larger network that moved nearly £100 million ($127 million USD) during 83 trips between November 2019 and October 2020.
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Emirates Skywards account becomes crucial to criminal investigation
The ringleader, 48-year-old Emirati national Abdulla Alfalasi, was later convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2022 even as British authorities continue the work to uncover more participants.
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On Jan. 11, a London court convicted two more men of acting as “couriers” — they were paid up to £5,000 per trip to transport several hundreds of thousands in currency to the United Arab Emirates.
Along with using DNA and fingerprints on the seized bags, the NCA was able to access Alfalasi’s Emirates Skywards account to find a history of very rapid miles collecting and track some of the “couriers” for whom flights were booked.
The country’s flagship carrier has a reputation for being one of the world’s most luxurious airlines. As reported by aviation website Simple Flying and the Wall Street Journal, Alfalasi would often book many of the first-class flights himself through his account and the NCA was able to track the history of the different trips as well as those who were paid to transport the cash in their luggage.
‘Money carried in these suitcases directly linked to organized crime…’
“The money carried in these suitcases was directly linked to the harm and violence associated with organized crime,” Adrian Searle, who directs NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, said in a statement. “The very purpose of organised crime is to make money. By going after it and those who launder it, we are targeting the heart of the criminal business model.”
In the latest crackdown, London resident Ali Al-Nawab and Mehdi Amarollahibiyouki became the fifteenth and sixteenth members of the network convicted of acting as mules to transport the money. According to the NCA, they were booked on Emirates business class flights due to its generous luggage weight allowance of up to 40 kilograms or 88 pounds — much of this information was revealed after authorities seized their phones and found communication in a WhatsApp group called “Sunshine and Lollipops.”
“Those involved will now rightly also realize the consequences for them personally – a criminal conviction,” Searle said in announcing the news of Al-Nawab’s and Amarollahibiyouki’s convictions.
Al-Nawab reportedly transported over £3.2 million ($4.07 million USD) on two trips between London and Dubai in March 2020 while Amarollahibiyouki moved over £4.3 million ($5.7 million USD) through 12 suitcases and three trips in the same time span.
