Father and son arrested at Manchester Airport as their international empire comes crashing down

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A father and son arrested at Manchester Airport before they were due to fly to Dubai face lengthy jail sentences for a series of drugs and firearms offences.

Asim Tufail, 52, and his son Junnaid Tufail, 23, both from Northenden, were both exposed by the law enforcement infiltration of the EncroChat communications network.

Asim Tufail, who was wearing a £70,000 Rolex watch when he was held in the departure lounge in Terminal One, was said to ‘outwardly’ appear to be a ‘profitable businessman’ who enjoyed ‘the trappings of wealth’. “But the profits did not come from any kind of legitimate trade,” prosecutor Tim Storrie KC told Minshull Street Crown Court. “The business of Asim Tufail was criminal." Junnaid Tufail described his father as his ‘role model’, and followed his father into organised crime. READ MORE: Businessman made 'catastrophic' decision after flood and debt problems...

now he's been jailed for a decade “The business they ran, the business that lined their pockets, was that of organised crime," Mr Storrie said. "Guns, drugs, money and threats of violence formed the basis of the business run by Asim Tufail, and on occasions, assisted by his son.” Prosecutors said that Asim Tufail was involved in an ‘international’ money laundering operation involving ‘vast’ sums.