(CNS): Over 100kg of gold worth an estimated £4 million that was moved through the Cayman Islands in 2019 has been claimed by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The collection of gold bars was destined for Switzerland via Heathrow after it left Cayman in two shipments that had arrived here on a private jet from Venezuela. The British law enforcement authority said the gold was the proceeds of drug crime, but when the suspected smugglers were tried here, they were all acquitted.

Daniel Alberto Aguilar Ferriozi, Antonio Di Ventura Herrera, Pedro Jose Benavidez Natera, Juan Carlos Gonzales Infante and local gold broker Kody Zander were accused of various offences, including money laundering and conspiracy to conceal criminal property. The case was prosecuted by UK attorney James Hines KC on the basis that the $6 million worth of ‘dirty gold’ was derived from crime, but the crown was unable to say what that crime was.

However, the UK NCA believe that the trail of false paperwork showing that the gold came from the Dominican Republic when it actually came from Venezuela and the gang’s alleged connection to a Colombian cartel indicated that it was drug money. In London on Monday, a high court judge ordered that the agency could take the gold on the basis that it was the proceeds of crime, regardless of the men’s acquittal by a Cayman jury after a trial lasting almost three months.

The NCA was given a civil recovery order for over 80% of the gold under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The remaining 20% will be returned to companies with a ‘financial interest’ in the gold, the NCA said in a press release but did not identify those companies.

Andy Noyes, NCA branch commander, said criminals use gold as a way of moving drugs money due to the high value contained in relatively small amounts.

“Our investigation showed this shipment was linked to drug cartels operating out of South America, but we were able to stop it reaching its final destination thanks to established links with overseas partners. This intervention has disrupted the criminal network, stopping them from reinvesting in further criminality that causes harm to our communities,” he said.