British drug lord James Harding arrested after being extradited from Switzerland

A British drug lord who plotted the murder of a gangland rival from his luxury base in Dubai was convicted today after one of the biggest EncroChat investigations in history. James Harding, 34, and his 'loyal right-hand man' Jayes Kharouti, 39, ran a vast criminal empire which made £5million 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', meaning murder. At the time, Harding, who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury at the The Nest apartment complex in Al Barari, Dubai , staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars. The plot was scuppered by Scotland Yard officers who accessed the defendants' discussions on EncroChat - where the kingpin had sent selfies on the same phone he used to arrange the hit.