UK - Cocaine gang 'caught on camera'

[Junkhead23]

Drug smugglers who attempted to import cocaine with a street value of £14m were caught on camera throughout their elaborate scheme, a court heard.





The five men are charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and to supply amphetamines.
Phillip Grange, of Nottingham, Peter Hannigan, of Kendal, and Simon Finlay, Darren Morris and Mark Neville, all from Preston, deny the charges.
They appeared at Manchester Crown Court at the start of the six-week trial.
The court heard that the smuggling of the Class A drug, which had been under police surveillance between Britain and Germany, was finally stopped by customs officers in Harwich, Essex, in May last year.
Andrew Thomas, prosecuting, told the jury that 105kg (230lbs) of high purity cocaine was discovered in the back of a removals van.



'Fictitious soldier'

It was hidden in furniture, supposedly belonging to a fictitious soldier, Sgt John Bickerstaff. The court heard the gang had used the pseudonym in order to smuggle the drugs into the UK.
Mr Thomas told the court the events of 28 April 2008 played an important part in the alleged conspiracy.
He said: "The police surveillance had identified a significant meeting for the defendants as they prepared to make the Bickerstaff run."
The jury were told all the men were spotted on camera meeting at a lock-up in South Ribble, Lancashire.
When police later raided the premises a suitcase was found, containing amphetamines with a street value of £54,000.
After the meeting the gang left - one went to Rotterdam, the others headed to Dusseldorf via Belfast and Dublin.
They then met in Monchengladbach, north Germany.



Prison sentences

Mr Thomas said two days later an early morning drug pick-up took place at a motorway junction close to the Dutch border.
He said the gang made 12 calls and text messages to Dutch mobile phones prior to the meeting.
Later that day Mr Hannigan, posing as Sgt John Bickerstaff, and 33-year-old Mr Finlay dropped off the drugs in the removal van at a depot for transportation back to the UK.
Mr Grange, 55, Mr Hannigan, 50, and Mr Neville, 42, all served prison sentences for drug trafficking offences, the jury previously heard.
Mr Neville, who ran Briggs Bargains Centre in Bamber Bridge, was on day release from Kirkham Prison at the time of the alleged offence.
The trial continues.



Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8048510.stm