Latest news with #smuggling
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Firearms and drugs worth millions found in lorry at Dover port
Millions of pounds worth of firearms and drugs have been recovered from a lorry at the Port of Dover, according to the National Crime Agency. Twenty firearms, 320 rounds of ammunition and 170kg of ketamine were confiscated from a Lithuanian registered driver, a 34-year-old Tajikistan national, was arrested on suspicion of smuggling the illegal Smith, Border Force director for the South East, said: "This is a significant seizure which demonstrates the vital work Border Force officers do every day to keep lethal weapons and dangerous drugs off our streets." Among the haul, officers also discovered more than 4,000 MDMA -also known as ecstasy or molly - investigators estimated the street value of the ketamine to be about £4.5m, and the MDMA to be £40,000. The firearms will be tested by NCA experts, but are believed to be viable pistols, the agency Herbert, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "Our investigation to trace and detain the individuals responsible for the attempted importation is ongoing."Alongside our domestic and international partners, we are relentless in our efforts to suppress the supply of firearms to UK-based organised crime groups."
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lawn and order! Pensioner, 66, caught smuggling £120m of cocaine inside rolls of artificial grass is jailed for 17 years
A pensioner who was caught smuggling £120million worth of cocaine inside rolls of artificial grass has been jailed for 17 years. Peter Lamb, 66, was found to have to have smuggled one-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine, worth an estimated £120million on the street, over the course of a year. He was caught in May 2024 after taking a receipt of a lorry-load of fake grass, inside which were several custom-built rolls of fake grass that were meant to be filled with the Class A drug. The delivery was one of 20 he had taken into his hands over the span of 11 months. But unbeknown to Lamb, the last load he took had been ransacked by Dutch authorities, who removed the drugs several days prior. Cops in the Netherlands told the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the scheme, and upon Lamb receiving the delivery in Stockton-on-Tees, NCA officers found he used a forklist to move to rolls of fake grass to a warehouse. As he returned to the warehouse the following day, he was arrested by awaiting NCA officers. Following a search of the warehouse, as well as one in Newcastle, officers found a kilogram of cocaine alongside rolls of fake grass. And upon an investigation of Lamb's phone and paperwork, he was found to have made several trips to the Netherlands and set up two grass supply companies. But these firms were found to have sold no products, and it is believed the trips to Europe were done to meet co-conspirators. NCA senior investigating officer Al Mullen said: 'Artificial grass is one of the more unusual concealments I've seen used to smuggle cocaine but no matter what tactics criminals use, the NCA will find both the drugs and the importers. 'We caught Lamb red-handed and uncovered his year-long conspiracy to flood UK streets with one-and-a-half tonnes of the drug. Cocaine destroys communities and lives, but this joint operation with officers in the Netherlands has disrupted its supply in the UK.' After pleading guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs at Newcastle Crown Court on March 26 2025, he was sentenced at the same court on June 27.
The Sun
21 hours ago
- The Sun
Brit boy, 6, arrested in £1.6m smuggling plot after 14kgs of drugs found stuffed in his case when he landed in Mauritius
A SIX-year-old British boy was arrested in Mauritius suspected of smuggling part of a £1.6million dope haul stuffed inside his wheelie case. The lad was picked up by customs officials along with his mum and five other Brits as they arrived on the tropical island on Sunday. 6 6 6 Suspicious customs officials swooped at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport and found a whopping 161 kilos of cannabis stuffed into several suitcases belonging to the group, including 14 kilos hidden inside the child's bag. The boy's mum was also arrested and had 17 kilos hidden in her own bags. The other Brits arrested included Laura Kappen, 28, a bar worker from Orton Goldhay, Cambs, Shannon Holness, 29, a caterer, from Bretton, Cambs, Shona Campbell, 33, a cleaner from Standground, Cambs, Lily Watson, a caterer from Peterborough, Cambs, and window fitter Patrick Wilsdon, 21, also from Peterborough. Romanian national, Florian Lisman, 38, a machine operator living in Huntingdon, was also arrested. Authorities on Mauritius branded the use of a child in the audacious drug smuggling plot as 'inhumane". On Wednesday the boy, who had no clue of the drugs in his bag, was flown back to the UK with his dad who came to collect him. Eleven numbered Apple AirTags found with the massive drugs haul, suggest the group was likely part of an organised crime network responsible for transporting drugs from Europe to Mauritius. The drugs cache was found during a joint operation by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) and the Anti-Drug & Smuggling Unit (ADSU) at the airport. The group had flown into Mauritius on a British Airways flight from London Gatwick last Sunday. The accused appeared in court in Mahébourg on June 23 and seven remain in custody. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: 'We are supporting several British nationals who are detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.' Accused Patrick's shocked mother Carly Wilsdon said her son had just started work as a window fitter in Peterborough and had gone to Mauritius after being offered a 'free holiday'. It was only the second time he had been abroad in his life. She said: 'He was told it was a free holiday. He wouldn't have known what he was doing because he wouldn't get involved in drugs. 6 'The person who told them about this free holiday is one of his circle of friends but now he has disappeared. 'He told them that he had been before and that they would meet someone there. There was no mention of drugs. 'It is so hard. He could be looking at 30 years. He has never been in trouble and only been abroad once before. 'I missed a call from him on the day they arrived. I thought it was to show me the apartment. I can't believe what's happened.' She added: 'We've had no contact with him. He's got lots of issues, he's vulnerable. 'He doesn't know any of the group. He just went there with his girlfriend Lily Watson.' Speaking outside her home on the outskirts of Peterborough, a relative of Laura Kappen said: 'She is not a bad kid. She's never done anything wrong in her life but I guess she has done something foolish. Someone must have enticed them with money.' A relative of Shona Campbell said: 'It is really difficult. She's got two little kids and they don't know. It's horrible.' Spate of Brit drug arrests worldwide A SLEW of drug mule cases invovling Brits have emerged in the last few weeks In April-May, Two other Brit women were arrested abroad for alleged drug smuggling. Glam tourist Bella Culley allegedly tried to smuggle a suitcase of weed into Georgia and was locked away in a brutal ex-Soviet prison despite claiming to be pregnant. The 18-year-old was sent to the brutal Women's Penitentiary No. 5 in the town of Rustavi - a slammer notorious for its hellish conditions just outside Tbilisi. She had originally jetted to the Philippines to meet an old friend, but reportedly changed her plans last minute to go to Thailand with a gang of British lads unknown to her. A sentence ranging from 20 years to life could be a possibility for teen Bella from County Durham, according to prosecutors. Meanwhile, former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee was then caught allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth £1.2million into Sri Lanka. Her two suitcases were said to have been stuffed with 46kg of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush — which is 25 times more potent than opioid fentanyl. If found guilty, South Londoner Charlotte could face a 25-year sentence. Meanwhile, a young mum is being detained in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis in her bags on a flight from Thailand - in yet another shocking case. Glamorous Cameron Bradford, 21, from Knebworth, Herts, was detained at Munich Airport on April 21 as she tried to collect her luggage. It comes as a Brit couple claiming to be tourists from Thailand have been busted with more than 33kg of cannabis in their suitcases at a Spanish airport. The pair were picked out by suspicious cops at Valencia Airport after displaying a 'nervous and evasive attitude' and are now behind bars on drug trafficking charges. Experts told The Sun how wannabe Brit Insta stars are being lured by cruel gangs into carting drugs across the world. The drugs bust comes amid a spate of British drug mule arrests in recent months. Brit Lee Adams, who went missing on Mauritius, was arrested on May 24 on suspicion of smuggling £110,000 worth of cannabis into the East African nation. Lee, 40, from Yardley, Birmingham, was intercepted as he arrived at the airport and customs officers found 5.75 kilos of cannabis concealed in his suitcase. According to local news reports Adams, who was confronted with the evidence during an interrogation, admitted his role and was arrested on the spot. Investigators immediately launched a "controlled delivery" operation on the holiday island and two suspected accomplices, both believed to be British, were also arrested. An investigation has been launched and the trio remain in custody.
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Haul of 7m cigarettes worth about €6.25m seized in Dublin Port
Almost seven million cigarettes, worth an estimated €6.25 million have been seized at Dublin Port. The seizure was made on Tuesday after an unaccompanied container from Rotterdam was examined. Advertisement Revenue said the action was taken as a result of routine profiling and with the assistance of Revenue's mobile x-ray scanner and a detector dog, Milo. The cigarettes, branded 'Marlboro', have an estimated value of €6.25 million, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of 4.9 million euro, Revenue said. The smuggled cigarettes were seized under Section 141 Finance Act 2001.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia Ask Judge to Keep Him in Jail Over Deportation Concerns
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in Tennessee on Friday to delay his release from jail because of contradictory statements by the Trump administration over whether or not he'll be deported upon release. A federal judge in Nashville has been preparing to release Abrego Garcia to await trial on human smuggling charges. But she's been holding off over concerns that US immigration officials would swiftly detain him and try to deport him again. Abrego Garcia's attorneys are now asking the judge to continue to detain him following statements by Trump administration officials 'because we cannot put any faith in any representation made on this issue by the Justice Department. The irony of this request is not lost on anyone,' the attorneys wrote. Abrego Garcia, a construction worker who had been living in Maryland, became a flashpoint over Trump's hard-line immigration policies when he was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. Facing mounting pressure and a Supreme Court order, Trump's administration returned him this month to face the smuggling charges, which his attorneys have called 'preposterous.' Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin told The Associated Press on Thursday that the department intends to try Abrego Garcia on the smuggling charges before it moves to deport him, stating that Abrego Garcia 'has been charged with horrific crimes, including trafficking children, and will not walk free in our country again.' Hours earlier, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn told a federal judge in Maryland that the US government plans to deport Abrego Garcia to a third country that isn't El Salvador. Guynn said there was no timeline for the deportation plans. Abrego Garcia's attorneys wrote in their filing on Friday that Guynn's statements were 'the first time the government has represented to anyone that it intended not to deport Mr. Abrego back to El Salvador following a trial on these charges but to deport him to a third country immediately.' The filing by Abrego Garcia's lawyers also cited a post on X on Thursday from White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson: 'Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States to face trial for the egregious charges against him,' Jackson stated. 'He will face the full force of the American justice system–including serving time in American prison for the crimes he's committed.' Abrego Garcia's attorneys wrote Friday the Trump administration brought Abrego Garcia back only to convict him in the 'court of public opinion.' 'In a just world, he would not seek to prolong his detention further,' his attorneys wrote. 'And yet the government–a government that has at all levels told the American people that it is bringing Mr. Abrego back home to the United States to face American justice–apparently has little interest in actually bringing this case to trial.' Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on June 13 to smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Those charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage. US Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville wrote in a ruling Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community. During a court hearing Wednesday, Holmes set specific conditions for Abrego Garcia's release that included him living with his brother, a US citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors can't prevent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him. Holmes ordered Abrego Garcia's lawyers and prosecutors to file briefs on the matter Thursday and Friday, respectively.
