A Brazilian drug queen and her accomplices are facing jail time after law enforcement descended on their highly organized criminal operation in what has been described as the largest ever Chemsex drug seizure in the UK.
Suellen Miguez, the 35-year-old kingpin, and her gang are reported to have facilitated a sophisticated Chemsex trade using an underground network of moped riders and WhatsApp groups.
Consequently, the lead suspect was convicted alongside 22-year-old Isabella Braga Da Silva, and her 27-year-old spouse, who became the self-proclaimed modern-day “Bonnie and Clyde”.
The court learnt that the high-rolling drug dealers lived lavishly, often spending tens of thousands of pounds on luxury items, including the purchase of designer goods from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada and Harrods.
In addition, the gangsters rented out properties using Airbnb as an avenue for drug storage for their illicit consignments waiting to be dispatched to customers. It turns out that they were clever enough to store narcotics for few days at a time in an effort to avoid law enforcement discovery.
Further, prosecutors intimated that the drug dealers’ wide range of customers were exposed to a long list of alternative drugs, often being given “a menu of drugs” to choose from. The banned substances ranged from cocaine and ecstasy, to the potentially deadly Chemsex drug called GBL.
The Police Operation
Law enforcement agents destroyed the meticulous drug operation when they flagged one of the moped delivery persons during a routine traffic operation.
The event was followed by the police confiscation of drugs worth more than £3 million and several cellphones that were reportedly being used by the culprits to operate a “dedicated drugs line”. On inspection, investigators came across £2.4 million worth of transactions.
Looking back, in the year 2019, a London Crown Court had convicted Miguez and three other individuals, including Isabella Braga Da Silva on charges involving 14 drug offenses and seven money laundering charges.
Law enforcement would later discover WhatsApp communication across the network of drug dealers, with messages that described Braga Da Silva and her boyfriend as “the great duo” – the connotation was in reference to the once-notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Apart from the already-mentioned cocaine and GBL that was found by the police, investigators came across MDMA, methamphetamines, LSD, cocaine, Ketamine, and cannabis that had been stored in lockers across the country.
In addition, officers recovered fake identity papers and £40,000 in cash from a Novotel hotel room in Docklands.
High-Tech Drug Dealing and Money Laundering
According to the case prosecutor, law enforcement agents confiscated a 10-page staff manual by the drug dealing group, which had a wide range of information including a code of conduct that outlined some of the pay incentives that were disposed to high performers.
As part of the drug dealers’ commitment to render quality service to customers, the document insisted that each delivery would be efficient enough to take “only 10 minutes”. The manual outlined the illicit organization’s goals in achieving top position as the best company of choice for people looking to acquire various drugs.
The court heard that the drug business was nothing short of a high-tech illicit delivery service that would meet the needs of customers in London. Prospective buyers would use a dedicated phone line to place orders that would take only 10 minutes to be delivered by the small army of moped riders who were often disguised as DHL or TNT delivery riders.
Further, the seized manual outlined claims of their ties with former law enforcement agents – it specifically spelled out that the criminal ring received assistance from ex-police and a lawyer who served them with information for their security structures.
