Queen’s Guards Arrested on Allegations of Cocaine and Money Laundering Fraud Days Before Starring in Jubilee

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Six Irish Guardsmen will be absent from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Trooping the Color celebration after they were arrested along with a Coldstream Guard over an alleged drug ring. The men, who are under the command of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, are accused of dealing Class A drugs and money laundering as part of an alleged cocaine racket.

“In a planned operation, the RMP arrested six Irish Guardsmen and a veteran Coldstream Guardsman from across the UK on suspicion of conspiracy to supply drugs and moneylending and money laundering,” an Irish Army spokesman said in a statement. “The Army will not tolerate any illegal or fraudulent conduct. As this is now the subject of an independent RMP investigation, it is inappropriate to comment further.”

Five of the seven men have reportedly been released on bail, but they will not be attending the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. The arrests, first reported by the British Sunstem from what the tabloid dubbed a “loan shark operation,” in which they allegedly lent money at inflated rates and then laundered the payments.

The arrests – carried out in a series of raids across Britain, Wales and Northern Ireland – come just weeks after Prince William presented the regiment with new colors and was given the honor of leading the Trooping of the Colors celebrations on June 2 and will include more than 1,200 soldiers and officers.

“They came in like the DEA and kicked in doors,” a source said The sun. “There was no warning. We were told that they had been planning the surgery for months. It wasn’t just the barracks. They searched the soldiers’ homes outside the base. It all comes as a huge shock.”

Ahead of the arrests, Prince William told the Irish Guard he was “immensely proud” of what they have achieved, including serving in Afghanistan, Cyprus, South Sudan, Kosovo and Iraq.