This is the moment Alton drug baron James Harding was arrested after disembarking a private jet.

It marked the fall of a powerful criminal syndicate that had been operating behind the veil of encrypted communications.

Harding, 34, and his “loyal right-hand man,” Jayes Kharouti, 39, were found guilty of plotting a murder and running a lucrative drugs empire.

They were due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London today (Thursday, June 26).

A jury convicted the pair on Tuesday, June 24 of conspiracy to murder, following an extensive investigation into their operations.

Harding was also found guilty of conspiring with others to import cocaine, a charge that Kharouti, of Epsom in Surrey, had already admitted.

Three other members of the organised crime group had previously pleaded guilty to drug offences.

Authorities estimate the gang earned an astonishing £5 million in profits from drug imports in just a 10-week period in 2020, highlighting the scale and sophistication of their criminal enterprise.

The court heard that Harding lived a lavish lifestyle in Dubai, with the sales executive of luxury watches staying in five-star hotels and driving top end cars.

But his lifestyle masked substantial criminality, with the pair overseeing 50 importations of drugs between April and June 2020.

The duo, who respectively used “thetopsking” and “besttops” handles on EncroChat also plotted a murder – they called it the ‘full M’ with a hitman being recruited and provided with a firearm and ammunition.

Their network – which delivered cocaine worth millions of pounds across London and beyond – and murderous intentions were brought to light after Met officers spent hundreds of hours trawling through thousands of messages thought to be impenetrable by law enforcement.