Love Island star Magdalena Sadlo to stand trial for running drug cartel
A Love Island contestant nicknamed Barbie faces more than 20 years in jail for being the mastermind behind a drugs cartel.
Magdalena Sadlo, 30, is said to have played a crucial role in a multi-million-pound operation so efficient that investigators compared it to Amazon.
She allegedly helped organize the shipment of cocaine, ketamine, and cannabis to Holland and then on to the UK.
The drugs were stored in Manchester safe houses before being distributed to dealers across Britain.
Sadlo then helped launder the proceeds by investing in designer clothes and luxury watches, including a £130,000 Patek Philippe and a £30,000 Rolex.
Sadlo, who starred in the 2021 series of Love Island in her native Poland, has admitted conspiracy to import Class A drugs but claims she only had a minor admin role.
Prosecutors insist she was effectively the gang’s financial director and used her management skills to help run the global operation.
Carlisle crown court heard her various roles within the Dubai-based cartel included collecting huge quantities of drugs smuggled into the Essex port of Harwich.
She is said to have moved 33kg of cocaine to Greater Manchester on one date alone, and over several months transported it around England in BMWs.
While in the Middle East, Sadlo is alleged to have documented transactions worth millions on spreadsheets.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said: “She not only manages the profits, costs, and expenses but also the stock levels — updating who has taken what, at what cost, from what batch, and the profit margins involved.
No organized crime group working at this level could function without Magdalena Sadlo, or an equivalent, performing this role.
Sadlo was enthusiastically, relentlessly efficient and told others off when they did not meet her standards.
She is very much part of the inner circle — seated at the very highest tables.”
Police held Sadlo at Heathrow in February last year after a first-class flight from Dubai.
She was carrying luxury watches, bracelets, rings, and a “crime CV” boasting her business acumen and qualifications.
Encrypted messages on her phones revealed her nickname. In one message, she quipped: “The devil works hard, but Barbie works harder.”
Sadlo, of Bracknell, Berks, was due to have been sentenced yesterday after admitting conspiring to supply drugs and to launder money.
But sentencing was adjourned after her barrister said she insisted she played only a minor role as a £1,000-a-month personal assistant.
She was remanded in custody until June 13. Thirteen members of the gang have already been jailed for up to 20 years each.
Deputy Editor
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