Dramatic footage of the moment armed counter terror police arrested a kingpin behind a £100 million cocaine empire has been released as he faces a lenthy jail sentence.
James Harding, 34, plotted murder and one of the largest importations of Class A drugs in Scotland Yard history using the encrypted EncroChat messaging platform.
Playboy Harding lived a lavish lifestyle in Dubai and took topless selfies grinning and posing in the gym and a bathroom in his four-bedroom villa at The Nest development in Al Barari.
He drove a Lamborghini Urus and Bugatti Chiron. Harding also chartered a private jet from the United Arab Emirates to London after co-defendent Jayes Kharouti's father died when airports were closed during the pandemic.
After being extradited from Switzerland to the UK, he was arrested by counter terrorist specialist firearms officer at a London airport in May 2022.
In the video, an officer remarks “Mr Harding, welcome back.”
To which Harding replies: “Oh, thanks very much” before being forced to wear a bulletproof jacket and driven away in an armoured vehicle.
Harding and his “loyal right-hand man” Kharouti, 39, tried to recruit a paid hitmen to put an unnamed rival courier “permanently out of business”, arming him with a gun and ammunition for the “full M” – a murder in late May and early June 2020.
Police say Harding, originally from Alton, Hampshire, used the handle “thetopsking” while discussing plans on EncroChat with Kharouti who was “besttops”.
Metropolitan Police detectives who spent hundreds of hours reviewing and analysing these messages found detailed plans for arranging firearms, getaway vehicles, times, dates and locations.
Harding’s sophisticated network made 50 importations into the UK, weighing of one tonne between April and June 2020, turning over an estimated £5m profit in just 10 weeks.
But the street value was around £100million when broken down into individual deals and sold on.
On Tuesday, Harding - who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive - was found guilty by an Old Bailey jury of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to murder following a seven-week trial.
Kharouti, 39, fled his home in Depot Road, Epsom but during searches police found a handset with the same number he gave to Harding.
He was extradited from Turkey on June 25 last year and convicted of conspiracy to murder having previously admitted his role in supplying cocaine.
They were remanded into custody to be sentenced on Thursday.
Three other members of the organised crime group had previously admitted drugs offences.
During Harding’s defence, he denied being “thetopsking” in messages and instead claimed he was in an “intimate” relationship with the man, known only as TK, who did use the handle.
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Jurors heard he had feelings for “boys and girls” as a teenager, but “suppressed” his homosexual desires. TK is the biological father of Harding’s ex-girlfriend’s child, who was born in 2010.
“I’ve never admitted to anyone that I’m bisexual or come out,” he said.
“I did not want to come out in this way.”
Harding was previously sentenced to nine years and eight months for drugs offences in October 2013.
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’s case is part of a wider operation to take down criminals following the infiltration of EncroChat by the National Crime Agency and European agencies.
Detective Inspector Driss Hayoukane QPM, who oversaw the Met’s EncroChat operation, added: “Thanks to the tenacity and commitment from Met officers, over 500 criminals have been successfully convicted since the EncroChat platform was cracked back in 2020, leading to well over 5,000 years of sentences being handed down to those involved.
“This represents our commitment to combatting illegal drug supply, as well as the serious violence that comes with it.
“Our work doesn’t stop here - we will continue to pursue those who profit from bringing harm to our communities and will continue to deliver our mission of reducing crime.”
The other members are due to be sentenced at a later date.
