Drug dealer and money laundering team, including owner of small outlets, sentenced to prison

A drug dealer has been jailed for 21 years and nine months for his direct involvement in importing both cocaine and cannabis into the Isle of Man, and laundering as much as £600,000 of drugs money.

Leroy McHarrie is now the last of six men to be jailed for smuggling £78,000 worth of cannabis and almost £100,000 worth of cocaine into the Isle of Man through the boot in June 2022.

The 25-year-old gang member is said to have been linked to £623,501 of drugs money, laundered through 17 bank accounts linked to him or companies he owned between January 2020 and May 2023.

Fellow members James Spotswood and Matthew Woods were also previously sentenced to 15 and 18 years in prison respectively for their roles in the drug scheme.

McHarrie, 25, was found guilty after his trial in July of involvement in the importation of cocaine and concern over the importation of cannabis.

According to the hearing, McHarrie pleaded guilty to separate charges of importing cannabis and cocaine after being linked to two parcels sent from the UK to the Isle of Man.

He also pleaded guilty to sixteen counts of money laundering.

In September 2022, a package of cannabis worth £19,380, which was intercepted at the postal sorting office, was found to have the 25-year-old’s fingerprints on the package.

In October of the same year, a second package was intercepted, containing £15,900 worth of cocaine, which he was also found to have posted.

As for McHarrie’s ‘money mules’, three individuals were found to be involved in a money laundering scheme, and all were additionally sentenced to prison terms.

Mohammed Hoosen (27), owner and editor-in-chief of a small entertainment news channel “The Streamr”, is alleged to have transferred as much as £190,356 in “unexplained deposits” to five bank accounts.

Hoosen’s “unexplained” financial activity spanned a two-year period, between May 2021 and June 2023, and was later transferred to accounts controlled by McHarrie or his companies.

The small outlet owner also opened A Limited Company through the UK Companies House on April 18, 2023, but it is unclear whether any accounts linked to that company were used in the scheme.

Since his punishment, several of Hoosen’s former team members have made claims on Twitter (formerly known as X) about his alleged unprofessional behavior and nasty work tactics.

Records also show Mr Mark Lucas, 37, used two bank accounts to transfer £293,653 to other accounts or companies between December 2021 and July 2023.

Debbie Kidger-Preston, 48, is alleged to have transferred £250,999 to accounts between January 2022 and July 2023.

Under the money mule sentences, Hoosen was sent to prison for 20 months, Lucas for 22 months and Kidger-Preston for 20 months, suspended for two years.

All three criminals were described as a “money mule” for McHarrie’s drug importing activities.

Deemster Graeme Cook said that in all ‘criminal enterprises’ the main offenders ‘need people who are prepared to be captured and risk the resulting penalties’ and that there must be ‘some form of deterrence’.

Det Con Jamie Tomlinson, who spoke next the The hearing said the case highlighted how the work carried out at the ports “made it even more difficult for criminals to bring their illegal goods to our island.”

He added that the message to those involved in illegal drug activity in the Isle of Man, or in sending drugs from the UK, “could expect significant custodial sentences here on the Island, as this case shows”.

Featured image: Isle of Man Constabulary