Father and son accused of being part of organised crime network arrested at Manchester Airport before Dubai flight, jury told

A father and son on trial accused of being involved in an organised crime network were arrested in the departure lounge of Manchester Airport as they waited to board a flight to Dubai, a jury has been told. Asim Tufail, 52, and his son Junnaid Tufail, 23, both from Northenden, deny a series of drugs and firearms offences.

Asim Tufail was said to ‘outwardly’ appear to be a ‘profitable businessman’ who enjoyed ‘the trappings of wealth’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. “But the profits did not come from any kind of legitimate trade,” prosecutor Tim Storrie KC told their trial.

“The business of Asim Tufail was criminal.” Prosecutors claim Junnaid Tufail described his father as his ‘role model’ and that he was involved in crime.

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Mr Storrie added: “The business they ran, the business that lined their pockets, was that of organised crime. Guns, drugs, money and threats of violence formed the basis of the business run by Asim Tufail, and on occasions, assisted by his son.” They allege that father and son were both involved in the trade of firearms and of cocaine using EncroChat, an encrypted communications system infiltrated by law enforcement.

Additionally prosecutors claim that Asim Tufail was involved in an ‘international’ money laundering operation involving ‘vast’ sums. He is also accused of blackmail after allegedly threatening others to ‘secure their cooperation’.

The pair were arrested at the departure lounge of Manchester Airport on January 18, 2021 as they waited to board a flight to Dubai, jurors heard. Mr Storrie said an ‘extremely expensive collection of watches’ was seized during subsequent searches of their luggage and the family home on