Reported by Veronika Bondarenko

While airlines will reward big spenders who collect a lot of miles with perks ranging from a free suitcase to free ticket changes and lounge access, collecting too many too fast can also be a sign of something illicit.

That is, at least, what tipped off authorities trying to trace the origins of smugglers illegally moving large amounts of cash out of the U.K. to Dubai.

Back in 2020, Britain’s customs officers arrested two women flying with nearly £500,000 ($636,000 USD) from London to Dubai. After investigating, the National Crime Agency (NCA) uncovered that they were couriers in a much larger network that moved nearly £100 million ($127 million USD) during 83 trips between November 2019 and October 2020.

The ringleader, 48-year-old Emirati national Abdulla Alfalasi, was later convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2022 even as British authorities continue the work to uncover more participants.

On Jan. 11, a London court convicted two more men of acting as “couriers” — they were paid up to £5,000 per trip to transport several hundreds of thousands in currency to the United Arab Emirates.

Along with using DNA and fingerprints on the seized bags, the NCA was able to access Alfalasi’s Emirates Skywards account to find a history of very rapid miles collecting and track some of the “couriers” for whom flights were booked.

Read full report: https://www.thestreet.com/travel/emirates-frequent-flyer-miles-money-laundering-scheme