The drug gang so rich they had Sundays off
A Charlie's Angels-style gang of glamorous Brazilian drug couriers who delivered narcotics across London on mopeds have been jailed after police dismantled their operation.
Controlled and recruited by the only man in the organisation, the female gang members supplied drugs on a vast scale, making almost £100,000 profit every month.
They would take orders on the phone and then drop off their wares in a similar style to a takeaway food delivery service.
Such was the success of their network that they knocked off work at 10pm every day and never worked on Sundays.
Customers across the capital were provided with a "candy shop list" detailing more than 90 different narcotics available.
The gang boasted that they were able to supply Class A, Class B and even prescription pills and used high powered mopeds to make deliveries quickly.
As well as supplying cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis, the operation pressed its own unique heart shaped pills that were available to customers.
The judge described it as a "highly organised" criminal outfit that supplied a "vast array of controlled drugs on a vast scale".
As well as the retail side of their operation, the gang also operated a wholesale arm that helped supply other dealers with narcotics.
Police eventually brought down the network after carrying out raids which included a storage unit in northwest London and two distribution centres in Cromwell Road, west London, and South Kensington.
Officers seized almost 4kg of cocaine, 2kg of MDMA tablets and more than 5kg of cannabis, estimated to be worth more than £1.3million. They also found £54,000 in cash, three firearms and ammunition.
Tiago De-Lima, 30, the only man involved in the operation, ran and hired the women to help him. Vanessa Ananias, 29, controlled the gang's day-to-day movements while Nayara Robeiro, 33, Andressa Santos, 24, and Nayene Fernandez-Silva, 24, rode the delivery mopeds.
Ringleader jailed for 18 years
De-Lima was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment while Ananias was given six years. Robeiro, Santos and Fernandez-Silva were each handed four-and-a-half-year sentences.
Larissy Nascimento Dos Reis, 24, who acted as bookkeeper for the organisation, was the final member of the gang, to be jailed when she appeared at Southwark Crown Court. She was given two years and three months.
Prosecutors said computers seized as evidence were able to demonstrate the scale of the operation, with almost £100,000 profit being cleared every month.
Encrypted WhatsApp messages revealed most deals were for between 10-15 kg of cocaine but on one occasion 50kg of cocaine changed hands.
There was also evidence of other criminality including selling fake IDs, moving people out of the country by helicopter and bribing a prison officer.
The judge also ordered forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and paraphernalia.
