Man who smuggled £47m worth of drugs through Heathrow Airport caught after boasting about luxury lifestyle

A drug supplier has been jailed after smuggling millions worth of drugs through Heathrow Airport and boasting about the house and cars he bought with the money. Simon Rooney, 39, of Burnley, has been jailed for 20 years after the National Crime Agency uncovered his identity from messages sent on an Encrochat encrypted messaging service.

He used the handle “Luxuryfall” on the platform to supply cocaine and other illegal drugs to his criminal associates. Messages uncovered by the NCA in 2020 revealed that Luxuryfall was involved in supplying cocaine and mephedrone – a Class B drug.

Messages were also found that discussed importing cutting agents such as a horse wormer called tetramisole, which would bulk out the drugs to increase potential profits. Rooney thought Encrochat gave him complete anonymity, and shared images of his cars, his garden and his house, and described the extensive work he was having carried out at his home.

READ MORE: Watch moment burglar on the run rammed by police in chase after spate of Christmas Day robberies

Investigators managed to identify Rooney as the man behind Luxuryfall from these messages. One message read: “Mate I gutted this house its a nice area but looks like footballers moved in had it all k renders knocked walls out open plan massive kitchen dug all garden out on front made a massive drive fits 10 cars on…”

The NCA worked with Thames Valley Police (TVP) and Border Force who also launched investigations which identified Rooney was involved in supplying drugs. On May 24, 2020 Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport seized 336kg of tetramisole which they recovered from a flight inbound from Hong Kong.

The email address used on the paperwork for the cargo was Rooney's and he also shared an image of this on Encrochat - further identifying himself. The drug was estimated to have a wholesale value of around £47 million, once mixed with cocaine.

The following month (June 2020) police investigating a fatal car crash recovered 60kg of amphetamine at Manor Park in Kidlington. This has a street value of £600,000 and evidence was uncovered that suggested Rooney had supplied the amphetamines to an organised crime group operating in Thames Valley and south east of England.

On October 7, 2021 Rooney was arrested at his home address and subsequently charged. He was convicted on Tuesday, April 9 after a four-week trial at Oxford Crown Court in which a jury found him guilty of five offences relating to the supply of cocaine, mephedrone and amphetamines and conspiracy to acquire and supply cutting agents.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer, Andrew MacGill, said: “Together, the NCA, Border Force and Thames Valley closed the net on Rooney. By gathering irrefutable evidence of Rooney’s crimes we ensured he faced justice.

“We’ve also taken a large quantity of drugs and cutting agents out of circulation, so they cannot cause harm to communities or money from their sale be used to line the pockets of criminals.”

Get the biggest stories from around London straight to your inbox. Sign up to MyLondon's The 12 HERE for the 12 biggest stories each day.