Jailhouse legal letters were impregnated with spice

A gang of jailhouse drug dealers who smuggled narcotics to inmates using drones and legal letters impregnated with spice are facing jail.

Alexander Mullings, 32, led the plot to smuggle heroin, crack, cannabis and designer drug U-47,000, known as ‘pink heroin’ into prisons including HMP Swaleside in Kent.

Mullings was handed a life sentence in 2015 after he used Parcelforce to import sub-machine guns and ammunition from Germany, using a mobile phone smuggled into his cell at Wandsworth Prison.

He used Youtube to research the Czech-made Skorpion guns, which can fire 850 rounds a minute and featured in the Matrix and The Dark Knight movies.

Mullings admitted a series of charges including smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a number prisons, including Wormwood Scrubs in west London, between 2016 and 2019.

His mother, Alexandra Nicolaou, 52, along with Hamza Ahmed, 29, Charlotte Finch, 21, Ahmed Binfgih, 58, Katriye Kaplan, 32, and Danyaal Msaouri-Coulson, 22, all denied but were variously convicted of drug supply charges by a jury after a six month trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Opening the sentencing hearing Gemma Rose, prosecuting, said: ‘Alexander Mullings, while serving a custodial sentence directed the supply of control drugs inside and outside the prison.

‘He carried out the conspiracy using illicit mobile phones while in custody.

‘He was assisted by other individuals.

‘Mr Binfgih was employed as a driver for Mr Mullings. He was in contact with a number of numbers attributed to Mr Mullings going back to December 2016.

‘He was making trips from London to the vicinity of Swaleside. He would spend between one and four hours there before returning. Text messages recovered from Mr Binfgih’s phone indicate that the trips were organised by Alexander Mullings.

‘The Crown says that Alexander Mullings was the main organiser of the trips.

‘He negotiated with Mr Binfgih. He negotiated payments, times and dates.

‘They were in communication at relevant times and dates.

‘[Binfgih] would have had some awareness of the operation. His fingerprints were found on the packaging that contained the drugs, indicating some involvement in the preparation of those.’

During the trial, jurors were shown the four-propeller drone used to send packages of drugs into the prison.

Inside the device was a hollow space for storage of the contraband, said prosecutor Kevin Dent, KC.

He told the court: ‘This drone could fly for up to an hour.

‘It would not matter if it was travelling in any particular direction, it would still only last an hour because it is in the air.’

A video was shown of a police officer controlling the drone’s movements using an app on a phone.

‘Anyone is able to download the app and control the drone once synchronized,’ said Mr Dent.

Mullings smuggled spice into HMP Swaleside before spreading his operation to Wormwood Scrubs in west London.

The defendants took advantage of a rule prohibiting prison officers from opening legal letters addressed to inmates.

One was a blank Legal Ombudsman complaint form sent to Mullings in Swaleside while a blank legal aid form was sent to Ahmed, at the same jail.

Mr Dent said the document had been impregnated with the synthetic drug and accompanied by a bogus solicitor’s letter.

Mr Dent said Mullings’ gang advertised on Instagram, offering spice liquid at £500 per litre.

Mullings used 33 different mobile phones from behind bars and was in contact with his
co-defendants, the court heard.

He exchanged messages with Finch as they discussed the equipment and chemicals she would need to produce the powerful drug fentanyl.

Finch was said to have used an Instagram account called ‘HMP_Mamba_Plug’ to offer drugs to inmates.

She was logged into the Instagram account when she was arrested on 31 January 2019.

One post read: ‘Hey, I’ve got 10/10 spice paper, it gets sent in the official rule 39 solicitors’ messages, if your guys interested or anyone else let me know and I’ll send as a tester.’

Police searched her home and found a Tesco bag containing blank legal letters impregnated with spice, a box of prepaid first-class envelopes, and a ‘private and confidential’ self-inking stamp.

A pair of yellow rubber gloves were found to contain traces of caffeine, paracetamol, and spice.

A face mask with a respirator, designed to protect the wearer from vapours given off while handling solvents was also found at Finch’s home.

A set of digital scales was also recovered from her address containing traces of U47,700, cocaine, heroin and paracetamol, jurors heard.

Nicolaou said her son had asked her to buy mobile phones, chemicals and pre-paid envelopes but he never explained what he was up to.

She said she believed he made money selling on the mobile phones, and the chemicals, including acetone, cardarine and isopropyl, were for a mobile nail bar business run by one of his friends.

Ahmed, who had previous convictions for armed robbery and possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, claimed he was acting under duress from Mullings.

Msaouri-Coulson claimed his mobile phone was used in the plot without his knowledge.

Nicolaou, of Merton, south London, Ahmed, Binfgih and Msaouri-Coulson, both of Islington, north London, were convicted of conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice and anabolic steroids into Swaleside prison between December 2016 and February 2017

Nicolaou denied but was convicted for conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle mobile phones into a number of prisons between June 2016 and March 2018.

Finch, of Crouch End, north London, Nicolaou and Binfgih, denied but were convicted of conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice into Swaleside prison between March and August 2017.

Nicolaou, Binfgih, Kaplan, of Waltham Cross, Herts, and Finch, denied but were convicted of conspiring with Mullings and others to supply heroin between March 2017 and June 2017.

Nicolaou, Kaplan and Finch denied but were convicted of conspiring with Mullings and others to supply spice between March 2017 and June 2017.

Nicolaou, Ahmed and Finch denied conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice into Swaleside prison, Wormwood Scrubs and other prisons between September 2017 and October 2019.

Finch alone denied and was cleared for conspiring with Mullings and others to supply heroin between March 2018 and October 2019.

Finch denied and was cleared of two counts of conspiring to supply crack cocaine, two counts of supplying fentanyl and one count of conspiring to supply U-47700, between March 2018 and October 2019.

Kaplan and Nicolaou were convicted of transferring the proceeds of crime.

Ahmed, Binfgih, Msaouri-Coulson, Kaplan and Finch all denied but were convicted of transmitting or causing to transmit text messages or images from jail between January 2016 and December 2019.

Nicolaou admitted this offence, relating to phone calls to and from her son.

Judge Adam Hiddleston is hearing mitigation but has indicated she won’t pass sentence until 29 August.