James Harding and Jayes Kharouti discussed plan to recruit hitman to kill rival on encrypted messaging service
A pair of drug kingpins are facing jail for plotting to murder a rival and smuggling millions of pounds worth of cocaine into the UK after one of the largest EncroChat investigations.
James Harding, 34, and his “loyal right-hand man” Jayes Kharouti, 39, ran a vast criminal empire which made £5m in profits from importing drugs over 10 weeks in 2020 alone.
They tried to recruit a hitman to put an unnamed rival courier “permanently out of business”, arming him with a gun and ammunition for the “full M” – a murder, the Old Bailey was told.
At the time, Harding, who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury in Dubai, staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars.
