Pro footballer mum turned drug gangster wails as she's jailed after Manchester Airport sting

A former England footballer has been jailed after her million pound cannabis trafficking operation was rumbled at Manchester Airport.

Faye Dunn, a successful businesswoman who worked as an accountant for a drug gang wailed "I can't believe it" as she was sentenced, the Echo reports.

The mum became involved in the underworld when her business ventures began to falter due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 38-year-old and her dad Michael Dunn operated using EncroChat - an encrypted communications platform commonly used by criminals, Liverpool Crown Court heard on September 6.

But authorities gained access to the network in 2020, with Operation Venetic subsequently revealing that the daughter had been using the handle StiffNinja.

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Meanwhile, her convicted drug smuggler father went under the name ZincBat. Faye Dunn was found to have been in close contact with a user known as LedZeppelin, with messages revealing she had "involvement in the supply and production of cannabis".

The mum-of-two was described as an "accountant for an organised criminal enterprise", while she had smuggled ill-gotten cash abroad. Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said: "She played an operational role within the drugs supply chain but appeared to have significant influence upon others in the chain, facilitating meetings between criminal associates in relation to the supply of controlled drugs, and also instructed others to undertake tasks such as the collection and movement of packages of both drugs and cash.

"Significantly, she appears to have acted as the accountant for the organised criminal enterprise and has concealed not only her EncroChat device but also cash