• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Crooked officer helped smuggle millions of pounds worth of guns and drugs into Britain

Simon Pellett was arrested by French police in October 2017 in a supermarket car park between Calais and Dunkirk

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
2018-11-16 13:28
in News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A crooked UK border officer was snared trying to smuggle more than £3 million worth of firearms and drugs into Britain.

Detectives believe the guns and drugs would have been used to fuel rising gang violence in London.

At a press briefing today ahead of Simon Pellett’s sentencing, Det Superintendent Neil Ballard, of Scotland Yard’s Organised Crime Command, said: “The guns are recognised brands, they are forensically clean and modern – that would undoubtedly end up on the street of London, used for violence and gang criminality and the harm that’s linked to it.

“The sorts of guns we see here in this haul are the most commonly used guns in the UK.

“We would say the drugs at least initially were destined for London. The guns can be used numerous times in violence. The guns and drugs would have contributed significantly to the violent situation among gangs at the moment.

“The mix of drugs and firearms together, the impact of those combined on the gang situation, it is a significant seizure.”

The haul included pistols from the Second World War, and an American revolver – alongside 28 kilos of cocaine and six kilos of heroin.

RelatedPosts

Ministers to launch probe into the BBC’s ‘Islingtonian left-wing bias’

Brits react to new ‘affordable foods’ list

Top Tory STANDS BY fellow party MP convicted of abusing 15-year-old boy

Watch: Murdoch monopoly isn’t taking Aussie election result well

Pellett, 37, had been working for the UK Border Force for over a decade in roles that included detecting and preventing the smuggling of contraband.

But he was arrested with two accomplices as they loaded duffle bags full of pistols, revolvers, heroin and cocaine in a French car park in October last year.

Pellett, along with David Baker, 55, and Alex Howard, 35, were found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court following a trial earlier this month.

The gang were under surveillance as part of an investigation between the Met’s Organised Crime Command, the National Crime Agency and French Police.

Baker was seen collecting eight pistols, two revolvers, a large quantity of ammunition, 28 kilos of cocaine and six kilos of heroin in Belgium.

He drove through France to meet Pellett and Howard at a supermarket car park between Calais and Dunkirk.

Pellett was then to take the bags back to the UK via the Channel Tunnel as, being an employee of Border Force, he would not have been subjected to the same stringent security measures as other travellers.

But they were caught in the act and extradited back to the UK.

Detectives from the Specialist Crime Command said today (Fri) Pellett’s abuse of position was ‘abhorrent’ but represented just one member of the border agency.

Mr Ballard said “It’s not widespread. It’s quite a unique situation.

“Pellett was the proverbial bad apple. It’s abhorrent he abused his position as a member of Border Force without any thought for what those guns and drugs can do.

“This is pretty unprecedented.

“The size of the haul reflects the confidence they had in the corrupt border force official.”

Det Chief Insp Sam Cailes added: “It’s our opinion it’s not the first importation that’s taken place. We don’t know when the relationship started but it was going on for some time.

“When he started working his job was to protect the importation of guns and drugs. By the time of his arrest, he had been promoted a few times.

“He had been moved – his job was to fix the detection equipment for human smuggling and again drugs and firearms being concealed. That gave him the freedom to travel.

“He was in such a trusted position that he wouldn’t be subjected to checks that we would through the ports.”

It is believed the trio is part of a wider organised criminal network responsible for smuggling drugs and firearms into the UK.

DCI Cailes said: “He lives down in Kent and some of the people involved lived in that area. But we can’t say how they all met.”

On October 6 last year, Pellet collected an official Border Force van and drove it to France via the channel tunnel alone.

But the NCA had placed a listening device in his van, and as he drove he was heard making arrangements to rendezvous with Howard and Baker between Calais and Dunkirk in Loon-Plage,

Pellet went to a wine warehouse to buy bottles and placed them in a visible place at the front of his van. He then drove further into France to the pre-arranged meeting point at a supermarket car park in Loon-Plage.

Howard was waiting in the car park area whilst Baker placed three heavy holdalls into the Border Force van. All three men were then arrested by French police.

The three holdalls were subsequently found to contain eight pistols, two revolvers, a large quantity of ammunition, 28 kgs of cocaine and 6 kgs of heroin.

The drugs had a total street value of £3.4 million and the guns are believed to be worth around £33,000 in total.

The firearms included self-loading and machine pistols, revolvers, silencers and suitable ammunition. There was also ammunition suitable for a Scorpion sub-machine gun.

All three suspects were extradited from France to the UK on May 11 this year and stood trial on 8 October. They were convicted this week and are due to be sentenced today.

Pellett, of Dover, was found guilty of three counts of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of goods (smuggling of cocaine, heroin and firearms) and misconduct in a public office.

Baker, of Eltham,south east London, was found guilty of three counts of being knowingly concerned in smuggling cocaine, heroin and firearms.

Howard, of Teynham, Kent, was found guilty of two counts of being knowingly concerned in smuggling cocaine, heroin and firearms.

Detectives say Pellett was of previous good character while Baker and Howard had only low-level previous convictions.

By Adela Whittingham

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

20k enter UK a day with border ‘closed’ as Australia and New Zealand open bubble after stamping out Covid

Greta Thunberg tweeted about coronavirus & trolls replied with horrific abuse

London’s millennial exodus fuels rental growth in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds

Tube passenger suffers horrific burns after jumping on to track to escape knife thug

Paul Edmonds salon – Review

Watch: Sir David Attenborough narrates animation on protecting ‘indispensable’ nature

Stunning photos show millions of beautiful daffodils in full bloom

Biden cancels incendiary Trump order punishing statue vandals

Truss torched by Neville and Lineker over Champions League comments

New hope for men with aggressive forms of prostate cancer

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.