Love Island star jailed for 14 years over role in ‘Amazon-style' drugs cartel which flooded UK with narcotics
A LOVE Island star has been jailed for 14 years for her crucial role in a multi-million pound "Amazon-style" drug smuggling operation.
Magdalena Sadlo, nicknamed Barbie, helped transport hundreds of kilos of cocaine across the world for a major cartel based in the Middle East.
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The 30-year-old, who appeared in the 2021 series of Love Island in her native Poland, was working in hospitality in Dubai whilst helping to flood UK streets with "eye-opening" amounts of drugs.
Carlisle Crown Court heard that Sadlo, of Bracknell, Berkshire, was brought in as a financial director for the smuggling ring.
Their operation was so slick that some investigators compared it to Amazon.
She helped organise the shipment of cocaine, ketamine and cannabis to Holland and then on to Britain.
Prosecuting, Tim Evans told how the international cartel could not have operated at the level it did without Sadlo's "efficiency".
He said: "She not only manages the profits, costs and expenses but also manages the stock levels.
"She updates who has taken what, at what cost, from what batch and the profit margins involved.
"She is very much part of the inner circle… and is operating and seated at the very highest of tables.
"She clearly knew the scale and seriousness of the trade she was engaging in.
"No organised crime group working at this level could operate or function without Magdalena Sadlo, or an equivalent, performing this role."
While based in the UK, she operated as a drugs courier, often collecting cocaine as it was imported into the port of Harwich in Essex.
Drugs experts believe she moved 300kg of cocaine across seven trips, including 33kg of cocaine to Greater Manchester on one date alone.
The drugs were stored in safe houses in the Manchester area before being distributed to dealers over several months using BMWs.
She then helped launder the proceeds by investing in designer clothes and luxury watches including a £130,000 Patek Philippe and a £30,000 Rolex.
Detectives held Sadlo when she landed at Heathrow Airport on February 13 last year, having flown Emirates first class from Dubai.
She was caught carrying luxury watches, bracelets and rings, and a 'crime CV' boasting her business acumen and qualifications.
Encrypted texts on her phones revealed her "Barbie" nickname.
In one message, she quipped: 'The devil works hard, but Barbie works harder.'
Sadlo was due to have been sentenced in April after admitting conspiring to supply drugs and to launder money.
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But sentencing was adjourned after insisting she played only a minor role as a £1,000-a-month personal assistant.
Finally sentencing her to 14 years yesterday, Judge Nicholas Barker said that Sadlo was "central" to the organisation.
He added: "I conclude there was gain and reward and in some way considerable to you.
"You are an intelligent woman and well understand risk and reward.
"I find you acted with real enthusiasm and sought to impress those at top."
Thirteen members of the gang have already been jailed for up to 20 years each.
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