MEN SPEND THREE DAYS IN CELLS OVER DRUG SEIZURE
a removals company was at the centre of the u.k,s largest ever drug hauls on saturday.
the lorries operated by f and n international removalswere stopped and searched at harwichport, essex and cocaine with a street value of 13 million was found stashed inside.
what the firm thought was a standard removal of furniture from dusseldorf, germany to another at preston ,lancs was inactual fact an attempt by a gang to get135 kg of the class a drug across the border.
managing director paul fletcher said, the boys who picked it up said there was something fishy about it.
they dont have to check the goods,so the inventory said furniture and boxes.
we origanally told the guy who arranged it that it would be delivered next week, but he said he wanted it sooner.
he said hed send a vehicle to pick up the goods in grantham.
but before the goods gang could carry out its plan, hmrevenue and customs and police forces from â â â â â â â and lans discovered the stash.
mr fletcher said 3 of his employees were arrested and spent 3 days in the cells while police investigated the incident.
the men, two from grantham and one from melton mowbray were realesed on bail.
they must report back to â â â â â â â police on july the 1st.
mr fletcher said, they are all back now and weve given them a couple of days off.
their families were worried, which is understandable, you dont know what these people are capable of.
mr fletcher said the lorries are still being inspected byforensics teams in â â â â â â â and have not yet been returned to the depot.
5 other men, one from notts, one from kendal and three from preston have been charged with conspiary to import cocaine
worrying times for those drivers and there loved ones, hope it all gets cleared up
Harry Monk:
They knew there was something fishy about it but they still took it across a border? They need one of theseâŚ
Brilliant.
Joking apart though, if the lads thought it was âfishyâ why didnât they say something to their boss at the time?
TBH, I think itâll be difficult to prove their guilty knowledge of the drugs. Donât forget, the police have to be able to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and thatâs not easy to do (unless they 'fess up to it).
Donât forget, the police have to be able to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and thatâs not easy to do (unless they 'fess up to it).
If they were caught with the drugs in their truck, surely they were guilty beyond doubt.
The fact that they didnât know is not relevant as to guilt ,but will be relevant to mitigation.
⌠or so I think.
Feel free to shoot me down in flames
del949:
If they were caught with the drugs in their truck, surely they were guilty beyond doubt.
Not necessarily, but they are in a difficult position.
Harry Monkâs advice would be thisâŚ
"If you suspect that you have contraband in your trailer it is essential that you declare this and not try to enter the UK undetected. Ideally you should find internet access and email Customs and Excise and your employer informing them of your suspicions.
These emails will be time and date-stamped and permanently archived.
You should also inform your employer by SMS message, as this will also be archived and request that he contacts C&E by phone and email.
So long as you have made it clear that you are not complicit, you are unlikely to face anything more than arrest, questioning and the obligation to return some months later to answer bail whereupon you will be discharged".
I feel sorry for these blokes at the end of the day this can happen to anyone
From reading what the company has said they never packed the boxes so
i dont see how they can be held responsible as the boxes were already
sealed ? Will have to see what happens.
I do too, but their big mistake was that they thought there was something wrong and they didnât say anything. The legal term âmens reaâ, which is Latin for âguilty mindâ is a very important part of any criminal prosecution.
They certainly donât deserve to be punished severely for their mistake of judgement and I hope they arenât punished at all. But they would have done far better to have blown the whistle.
Harry Monk:
I do too, but their big mistake was that they thought there was something wrong and they didnât say anything. The legal term âmens reaâ, which is Latin for âguilty mindâ is a very important part of any criminal prosecution.
They certainly donât deserve to be punished severely for their mistake of judgement and I hope they arenât punished at all. But they would have done far better to have blown the whistle.
Hey Harry its a difficult one isnt it i would like to know more about what
exactly happened,i mean just because you think your customers is a
bit odd or acts a bit odd doesnt mean you think they are actualy doing
something illegal I suppose until we know more its difficult to
comment on ,however i think once the customer wanted to collect there
own goods from the company tells you something was not right .
This has been the main news this week in the north west as this was its destination as preiousley stated. both the police and c/e knew about the shipment and were following/watching it.once on uk soil it then got pulled.
There for the grace of GodâŚWe load frozen and fresh in boxes sometimes on the box it says chicken or pork or any other sort of food stuffs BUT do you know for a fact what is in those boxes? Unless you actullay open every single box you will not knowâŚI got stopped by C/E on Friday morning at Harwich and got asked all the usual questions but my bum was twitching slightly as I was not 100% sure of what was in the boxesâŚThankfully I was ok.
SMc
Deepinvet:
There for the grace of GodâŚWe load frozen and fresh in boxes sometimes on the box it says chicken or pork or any other sort of food stuffs BUT do you know for a fact what is in those boxes? Unless you actullay open every single box you will not knowâŚI got stopped by C/E on Friday morning at Harwich and got asked all the usual questions but my bum was twitching slightly as I was not 100% sure of what was in the boxesâŚThankfully I was ok.
SMc
i know what you mean. got stopped at dover last year with groupage from italy. there was a crate which they wanted to get into. so they set to with crow bars and hammers. while they were doing this they wanted to know about the two pallets of wine. cmrâs didnât show any wine. in the end i asked âso what was in the crate?â âno ideaâ said the bloke âwe couldnât get in itâ. as for the wine they just said âsod it. itâll be okâ. bloody good job i wasnât on the french side.
Deepinvet:
There for the grace of GodâŚWe load frozen and fresh in boxes sometimes on the box it says chicken or pork or any other sort of food stuffs BUT do you know for a fact what is in those boxes? Unless you actullay open every single box you will not knowâŚI got stopped by C/E on Friday morning at Harwich and got asked all the usual questions but my bum was twitching slightly as I was not 100% sure of what was in the boxesâŚThankfully I was ok.
SMc
Thats why i never liked groupage loads.With all the boxes and cartons you never knew exactly what the load contained.
Another Removal Company has had similar problems with employees being caught with large amounts of Class A, one of the drivers has been convicted twice for the same offence. The previous bust resulted in his Spanish Villa being seized by the police. The second offence involved the Bossâs son who receives his sentence this week. Guess what, they all work on the same contract transporting British Forces household effects from Germany to UK.
Greg:
This has been the main news this week in the north west as this was its destination as preiousley stated. both the police and c/e knew about the shipment and were following/watching it.once on uk soil it then got pulled.
If the drugs had been under suveillance then my guess would be that the drivers will be in the clear. Customs and Excise do in my experience know if a driver is complicit in a known movement and do not charge them if they know that the driver is an unwitting player.
I cant seem to get my head around why they dont just follow these drugs hauls to their destination. They would get a bigger collar then a bloke who drives a truck and knows sod all about whats inside the shrink wrapped pallets. Lets face it, if they know the driver has nothing to do with it then why not just covertly tag the truck / load and get someone who knows all about it.
I suppose until we know more its difficult to