A Liverpool woman has admitted letting criminals use her bank accounts to launder drug money being smuggled out of the Isle of Man.

Georgia Nicola Bell appeared before magistrates at Douglas Courthouse, via video link from the UK, on Thursday, December 12, entering guilty pleas to three offences.

The 30-year-old has been committed to the Court of General Gaol Delivery for sentencing and will appear there on January 30.

Prosecuting advocate Kate Alexander told the court that police officers from the Serious Organised Crime Unit had been running ‘Operation Voodoo’ between February 2023 and March 2024.

They were investigating a cross-border crime syndicate, involved in bringing cocaine and cannabis to the Isle of Man, and removing cash from their drug-related activity back to the UK.

At the conclusion of the operation, a number of arrests were made.

Bell, who lives at Ardwick Road, was stopped at the Isle of Man Sea Terminal, while she was in a Volvo XC40 with a man, intending to travel to Liverpool.

A search found around £10,000, hidden in a sock stuffed down the front of the man’s jogging bottoms.

The duo were subsequently arrested and the car was found to have an anti-tracking device fitted, which blocks the ability to track it.

Investigations found that Bell and the man had made multiple trips to the island, via the Sea Terminal and airport.

It is alleged that the man was a significant member of a Merseyside-based organised crime group.

He is also currently being dealt with by the Manx courts, along with several other individuals.

Bell’s bank accounts at Santander and Revolut were accessed and showed multiple transfers being made into them and out again.

She was interviewed and told police that she had no links to the island, but that her partner had friends here.

Bell said that she had given him access to her accounts as he had difficulties accessing his own.

When asked why he had the money down the front of his pants, she could offer no explanation.

Ms Alexander said that bank transfers were received into the accounts from a number of individuals, then broken down into smaller amounts and paid out to other accounts.

The payments had references such as ‘furniture’, ‘deposit for a French bulldog’, and ‘televisions’.

Bell said that she had not bought or sold any of these things.

The man was said to have paid £5,000 for a Rolex watch, then later sold it back to the same company for £4,800.

The bank transfers were said to total between £10,000 and £20,000, but the police are still working on the final figure.

In court, Bell pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property, namely a Rolex watch for £4,800, as well as two counts of entering into a criminal arrangement, by allowing the man to use her two bank accounts.

Ms Alexander said that the transfers in and out of the accounts were classic money laundering tactics and submitted that the case was too serious for summary court sentencing.

The defendant was represented in court by advocate Deborah Myerscough, who asked for a probation report to be prepared before sentencing.

Ms Myerscough said that the defence will say that Bell was involved through coercion.

The advocate submitted that the case would have been suitable for summary court sentencing, had it not been for the connection with the other parties involved.

Magistrates declined summary court jurisdiction but agreed that they would have accepted their powers were sufficient, had it not been for the link to the organised crime group, and the need for a confiscation order, which can only be made at the higher court.

Bell has been previously granted bail to her address in Liverpool and that continues until January 30.