A pair of drug kingpins are facing jail for plotting to murder a rival and smuggling millions of pounds worth of cocaine into the UK after one of the largest EncroChat investigations.
James Harding, 34, and his “loyal right-hand man” Jayes Kharouti, 39, ran a vast criminal empire which made £5m in profits from importing drugs over 10 weeks in 2020 alone.
They tried to recruit a hitman to put an unnamed rival courier “permanently out of business”, arming him with a gun and ammunition for the “full M” – a murder, the Old Bailey was told.
At the time, Harding, who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury in Dubai, staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars.
The plot was scuppered by Scotland Yard officers who accessed the defendants’ discussions on EncroChat, the encrypted messaging service favoured by the criminal underworld.
On Tuesday, the pair were found guilty of conspiracy to murder while Harding was also convicted of conspiring with others to import cocaine, which Kharouti had admitted.
The judge, Anthony Leonard KC, warned the defendants they faced “substantial” jail sentences.
Their Old Bailey trial was held amid heightened security, with an armed police escort to and from the central London court and prison. Armed police officers wearing balaclavas were posted at strategic points around the court as Harding was whisked in and out.
The prosecutor, Duncan Atkinson KC, told the trial the defendants discussed on EncroChat importing a ton of cocaine over a period of 10 weeks. Harding used the nickname “thetopsking” while Kharouti went by the handles “besttops” and “topsybricks”, the prosecution alleged.
Atkinson said it was Harding who first raised the idea of a “cryp robbery” – taking drugs from a courier – which became a plan to kill a courier instead. The defendants discussed how and where the murder would take place, with Kharouti offering the potential hitman £100,000, the court was told.
Kharouti kept his boss informed about the plan, who told him it should involve a “double tap” shot to the head and chest. The defendants were unaware of the alleged hitman’s arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to murder in the early hours of 3 June 2020.
Harding, who had previous convictions for drugs and false documents, was arrested at Geneva airport in Switzerland on 27 December 2021. He was extradited to the UK on 27 May 2022 and arrested by Metropolitan police officers at Heathrow.
In a video of the arrest, an officer can be heard saying: “Mr Harding, welcome back,” to which Harding replies: “Oh, thanks very much.”
In the footage, Harding was seen being made to wear a bulletproof vest before being driven away in an armoured vehicle.
Kharouti was extradited from Turkey to the UK on 25 June last year.
Giving evidence, Harding denied using the handle “the topsking”, saying it belonged to an “intimate” male partner called TK, whom he refused to identify.
The case formed part of a wider operation targeting criminals who used EncroChat. DCI 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.”
Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey, Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough and Peter Thompson, 61, of south-west London, had admitted the cocaine conspiracy charge. A man alleged to have been the proposed hitman was cleared.
Harding and Kharouti were remanded into custody to be sentenced on Thursday.
