Recently in Smuggling Category

On Friday 12 March at Maidstone Crown Court, 51-year old Thierry Desmet from Brussels and 35-year old Gergios Stellas from Greece, were sentenced to two years and 20 months respectively for attempting to smuggle 2.5 million cigarettes into the UK without paying £411,475 in excise duty.

The offenders were stopped in their HGV on 29 August 2009 at Dover Eastern Docks after arriving on a ferry from Calais. The haul was found in amongst garden ornaments and pots.

Part of the cigarette load found in the offenders' truck

Desmet and Stellas were arrested and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) began an investigation, which found the duo guilty of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty chargeable on the ciggies.

"Cigarette smugglers cheat the country of vital revenue to fund vital public services like hospitals and schools," says Heidi Foggon, assistant director HMRC criminal investigations.

A 400kg cocktail of drugs (including heroin, amphetamine sulphate, ecstasy and cannabis) was found in a British-registered lorry on 24 February at Dover eastern docks.

UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers discovered the haul which has an estimated street value of £3.7m, hidden in the lorry's load of oil drums.

The HGV driver and a second man have been granted bail without charge until August, while investigations continue.

"Our officers work tirelessly 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to detect and prevent drugs from being smuggled into the UK. We are determined to prevent this terrible trade, which can have such a destructive impact on the lives of so many," says UKBA assistant director Paul Booth.

Not that it has any connection, but this incident happened not too far from the Emirates Stadium so its hardly surprising dodgy dealings are going on (not that I'm a Spurs fan or anything haha). Yesterday (Thursday 4 March) at 3.30pm, Operation Trident officers found 100kg of smack in the back of a Renault van in Upper Tollington Park, Finsbury Park.

The heroin haul was discovered near the Emirates Stadium.

The 45-year old driver was arrested and shortly after another 45-year old male and 38-year old female were arrested in Seven Sisters Road, Holloway. They are all currently in custody.

"This is a major seizure and will severely disrupt the organised criminal networks in north east London," says detective inspector Malcolm Davies from Operation Trident.

On Thursday 21 January, UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers in Harwich stopped a lorry carrying 23t of bananas. However an inspection revealed two 10ft tubes containing £400,000 of cannabis were found inside, where smugglers had hollowed out the fifth wheel.

The trucker, who had travelled from Rotterdam, was questioned by police, however investigators do not believe the importer was involved in the crime.

"The smugglers had gone to great lengths to try and conceal the drugs," says Marc Owen of the UKBA.

When I was shadowing the agency officers at Eurotunnel's Coquelles terminal last year, they told me they have found drugs hidden in literally all parts of a lorry: wheels, tanks, cab. Clearly these methods of smuggling are carefully mapped out. Have you heard of any different hiding places? Any thoughts I want to hear....

I have now written many a 'stowaways trying to enter the UK via a lorry' story, but I found myself shuddering at the thought of 16 Vietnamese nationals hiding in a van surrounded by boxes of shrimp noodles. The words cramped, smelly and claustrophobic spring to mind. Well the architects behind the appalling and inhumane plot have pleaded guilty to people smuggling and will be sentenced on 5 February at Portsmouth Crown Court.

The 13 male stowaways and three females were found hidden inside a hire van driven by 51-year old Christiane Chocat and her 20-year old son Benjamin, both from Lumigny Nesles Ormeaux, near Paris. The Chocats were arrested at 7.30pm on 1 October 2009 after attempting to drive through Portsmouth Docks. They had travelled from Cherbourg.

"We will take action against ruthless people who attempt to exploit those attempting to enter the UK illegally. We will not allow criminal networks to make money from such a trade," says DI Andy Cummins of the UK Border Agency's SE  immigration crime team.

There have been recorded deaths of clandestines trying to enter the country. For any drivers contemplating people smuggling, I feel the need to emphasise that ultimately if convicted, you not only face charges of smuggling, but potentially murder too.

In July 2009, I revealed 47-year old trucker Marcel Paul Volkers from Amsterdam, had been charged with attempted smuggling. UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers had uncovered a 45kg heroin haul hidden in his lorry load of apples at Dover.

Just to inform you that yesterday (Tuesday 5 January) he was sentenced to nine years in prison, after being found guilty at an earlier hearing.

The 45kg heroin haul found in Volkers' lorry.

Also yesterday, HGV driver Neil William Harding was sent down for smuggling over three million cigarettes into the UK, a crime many of you were keen to comment on.

Any more thoughts I want to hear...

After absconding while on bail, 35-year old Staffs-based HGV driver Neil William Harding was jailed today at Brighton Magistrates Court for three years and three months. The sentence was for smuggling over three million cigarettes into the UK and jumping bail.

• The lorry driver was first stopped at Dover by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers in September 2007, arriving from Calais with a cab and no trailer.   

• Harding then collected a trailer from Newhaven, East Sussex which had arrived from Dieppe. Unbeknown to him, the lorry had already been inspected, and the GB Classic-branded tobacco haul was discovered hidden in cut out sections of pallets. The potential revenue loss from the cigarettes was almost £557,000.

• The offender failed to turn up at court on 27 April 2009. After discovering he had fled to France, a European arrest warrant was issued, and he was found in La Rochelle.

Neil William Harding was sentenced today for tobacco smuggling.

Truck where the tobacco haul was discovered.

Further proof that lorry drivers are first in the firing line for any smuggling-related punishments, is his honour judge Scott-Gall's statement:

"It was a significant, serious and sophisticated operation, and the evidence against you is and was always overwhelming. Your role was very vital as you were trusted to drive the vehicle."

It's very sad that my first blog of the year involves yet another trucker being sentenced. Is it just that a driver is first in line for punishment, or should the law being looking for the higher powers who are profiting on a mass scale from such operations?

Any thoughts I want to hear..

Earlier this month I wrote about a five member-gang jailed for 37 years for a £13.5m cannabis smuggling operation.

I noted that 40-year old HGV driver Ian Price from Sutton Weaver, Runcorn, had gone on the run to avoid his trial. In his absence he was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison.

Nice to see there is some justice and let you know he was arrested on Thursday 17 December by police in Runcorn, and has now begun his time. 

Ian Price was part of a gang that tried to import cannabis resin into the UK. 

As it comes to the end of the year I find I am writing yet another drugs smuggling story. However in the case of 49-year old Spanish trucker Jose Manuel Castro Alvarez who attempted to smuggle £1.3m of cocaine into the UK, I was intrigued to see a very poignant statement by His Honour Judge Henry:
 
"I am satisfied you were a courier and not further up the chain, nonetheless you played an important part (in this importation)."

As a result, for attempting to get 32kg of coke through Portsmouth Ferry Port on 19 February inside a truck-load of biscuits, Alvarez was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 10 December at Portsmouth Crown Court.

While it is important the court recognised that drivers are frequently a pawn in drug barons' games of chess, I believe this sentence serves to demonstrate that there is no light touch for offences involving drugs.

Biscuit load where £1.3m cocaine haul was discovered.

Yesterday (10 December) at Southampton Crown Court, five gang members formerly involved as directors and drivers with Northwich-based Ryack Transport and Runcorn-based Interfreight Logistics (Freight Forwarders), were found guilty of conspiracy to import cannabis into the UK via lorries on three occasions.

The two-year HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) investigation focused on three smuggling attempts:

13 July 2007: UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers discovered 9,595 blocks of cannabis resin worth £6.8m in a English-registered truck in Newhaven, East Sussex. The haul which had been collected in Spain, was hidden inside a pair of hydraulic oil tanks

21 August 2007: Officers in Coquelles, France, seized 1.4t of cannabis resin worth £4.1m from a lorry driven by Gary Henderson.

19 December 2007: A truck driven by Ian Price was stopped in Lille, France and £2.6m of cannabis resin was found in a paper napkin load.

"This was an extremely highly organised enterprise which spanned ten months with three known importations. I have come to the conclusion that significant industrial quantities (of drugs) were imported. The importations were cunning, the routes and entry points varied and a network of mobile phones used," said his honour judge Burrell.

Below are the offenders: