-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.channel4.com/nextstep/dispatches/customsdrugs.html#1 Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.channel4.com/nextstep/dispatches/customsdrugs.html#1">Channel 4 Television - Dispatches</A> ----- Drug Wars 17 February 2000 �The departmental objective to deter and detect the smuggling of drugs continues to be fulfilled as born out by the number of commercial drugs seizures made at our ports and airports. The street value of drugs prevented is on course to exceed the departmental target . . . The figures to date include the arrest and prosecution of a number of major criminals. Our working practices are continually evolving to meet the challenge of new and sophisticated smuggling methods. The measures arising from the new Drugs Strategy taking effect on 1 April 1999 see us entering a new phase of our enforcement plan. Class A drugs, in particular heroin, will continue to be our priority and we anticipate only minor changes to our core business effort.� - Her Majesty�s Customs and Excise Departmental Report 1999 �There are more drugs than ever on Britain�s streets. But some of the criminals who smuggle them in by the ton are escaping justice. And that�s thanks to blunder, law breaking and cover up by the very people whose job it is to catch them: Her Majesty�s Customs and Excise.� - Drug Wars, Dispatches, 17 February 2000 Drug wars: Read about the Dispatches investigation into how millions of pounds have been wasted on H M Customs operations against drug smugglers that have ended in fiasco and farce, while elementary mistakes and inadmissible or false evidence has led to known smugglers escaping conviction. Statement from H M Customs and Excise: H M Customs declined to be interviewed by Dispatches. They did, however, issue a statement dealing with some of the general issues and specific cases raised in the programme. Resources: Links to other websites and organisations dealing with the drugs issue, including some that question whether our current drug laws are workable or desirable. The view from H M Customs: Read a speech by the Chief Investigation Officer of H M Customs & Excise, giving his view of the task facing H M Customs & Excise and how it sees itself as dealing with it. Programme transcript Drug Wars: Fiasco, farce and false evidence Some four tons of heroin, 24 tons of cocaine and 400 tons of cannabis are estimated to have been smuggled into Britain during the past year. The real price of Class A drugs, including heroin and cocaine, has halved in real terms over the past decade as the supply has increased despite all efforts to check it. Yet despite having been given draconian powers to catch and convict the importers -- greater, in some instances, than those given to the police -- Her Majesty�s Customs and Excise has seen some of its most important operations end in failure because of what this Dispatches documentary described as �blunder, law breaking and cover up�. Millions of pounds have been wasted in recent years on a series of operations against drug smugglers that have ended in fiasco and farce. Elementary mistakes by Customs officers have undermined subsequent prosecutions, while inadmissible or false evidence has led to known smugglers escaping conviction. �What it means,� according to Derek Todd, the former head of the Metropolitan Police drug squad, who now advises foreign governments on drug law enforcement, �is that criminals going before the court are being allowed to walk free.� He told Dispatches: �They are being acquitted because of the incompetence of putting together a prosecution case.� Dispatches examined a number of prosecutions initiated by Customs and Excise that have collapsed in this way. In at least one case, the same person has even escaped conviction more than once. Maltese cross wires Brian Charrington, from Middlesborough, has only ever been convicted for burglary and theft, but both police and Customs have targeted him as one of Britain�s biggest drug barons. In 1993, he was tried for importing one and a half tons of cocaine -- a prosecution that came unstuck because H M Customs were not told that he was working as a police informant at the time. Charrington was acquitted and went to live in Spain. But Customs officers didn�t give up pursuing him. In June 1997, in the Bay of Biscay, members of the Special Boat Squadron (the Royal Navy�s version of the SAS) from HMS York helped to board and seize a Maltese-registered boat carrying four tons of cannabis. Charrington was believed to be the mastermind behind the operation, which led to 10 people being charged with conspiracy to import the cannabis into Britain. When the prosecutions finally came to court in January 1999, however, the case against Charrington quickly began to unravel. He had not been on the boat, the Simon de Danser, when it was seized. Worse than this, the boat had been in international waters at the time and permission had not been obtained from the country where it was registered to board it. A Customs officer claimed in court that he had contacted the Maltese attorney general�s office by telephone, but telephone records revealed that he hadn�t. He had rung the wrong office and tried to cover up his mistake; the judge dismissed his evidence as �untruthful�. The Maltese authorities had also been misled by being told that the boat was off the coast of the UK, when it was actually off the coast of Africa at the time. It was still 900 miles from Britain when it was boarded. Infuriated by this and other irregularities, the presiding judge threw the case out of court, saying it revealed �a culture . . . of carelessness and recklessness, a catalogue of flawed procedures, misleading requests, illegalities and incompetence�. An official inquiry by Sir Gerald Hosker QC followed, which made a series of recommendations about accurate record keeping and liaison with foreign countries. Operation Funded: Another costly disaster This wasn�t the only major operation scuppered by the failure of H M Customs to liaise properly with foreign countries. In 1998, �Operation Funded� saw two officers going undercover to capture a group of cannabis and cocaine smugglers. One posed as the owner of a trawler and one as its skipper; their task was to break up a smuggling operation run by a Dutch national named Victor and a Spaniard named Pablo. Five months after their first meeting with Victor and Pablo, the two officers led a boat crewed entirely by Customs officers to a rendezvous off the coast of Morocco. They had agreed a fee of �1 million to pick up four tons of cannabis and deliver it to Britain. On 13 September, after an Inspector Clouseau-like interchange of phone calls between the officers and Pablo to find out exactly where and when the rendezvous was to take place, they finally met up with their contacts a mile off the Moroccan coast. The cannabis was brought into Britain, the prearranged handover took place at a motorway service station and it seemed that a year-long operation had eventually ended successfully. The problem was that H M Customs hadn�t informed the Moroccan authorities of their operation, so that they were breaking international law. When this fact emerged in court, whenthe trial started in September 1999, the judge consulted the prosecution barristers in private. Rather than reveal certain information in open court, the prosecution case was abruptly dropped. Once again, immense resources had been wasted on a botched operation. �The professor� and Operation Stealer: Playing fast and loose with the law It is not only overseas operations that have ended in failure for H M Customs. One of the most publicised anti-smuggling operations of the 1990s, which was conducted both overseas and in the UK, had as a main target a man dubbed �King Coke� by the tabloid press, or �the professor� because he is said to have a degree in Latin American studies. �The professor� was put under intense covert scrutiny by Customs officers from December 1993 to the spring of 1994. This included bugging and secretly photographing documents in his hotel room and following him everywhere. He was found to be transferring large quantities of cash to Colombia and, in 1995, linked to a boat bringing a quarter of a ton of cocaine from the Caribbean to Britain. The cocaine was seized when it was landed at Pevensey Bay, in Sussex. Although two men escaped, the boat�s captain was captured and the Professor arrested soon afterwards. A crucial piece of evidence against him was that the Belgian drug smuggler who owned the boat had been observed by H M Customs officers meeting him outside the Tate in London. But not only had this not been disclosed to the defence prior to the trial; it had also been kept from the prosecution barristers. In a virtually unprecedented move, they withdrew from the case and the trial had to be stopped and restarted. The evidence of this meeting presented at the new trial turned out to be weak anyway. No photographs had been taken. Only one of the six officers present at the time gave evidence that the man who the Professor met was indeed the owner of the boat. And the notes taken by some officers recorded that he had met a balding man, although the man in question had a full head of hair. Fortunately for the prosecution case, the judge and jury were persuaded that there was sufficient other evidence to secure convictions. The professor and his co-conspirators were sentenced to a total of 167 years in prison. This successful prosecution was also to fall apart, however, when the case was taken to appeal in 1998. The case against the Professor and his colleagues had been built up with the help of 57 hours of secret recordings taken at three London hotels where he had stayed. By law, permission to carry out these recordings had to be obtained from both a senior Customs officer and the hotels concerned. In court, the Customs officers involved in the bugging had said -- under oath -- that all the proper permissions had been obtained. The appeal hearing revealed that this was not so. The oldest law enforcement agency in Britain had been playing fast and loose with the law. As the judge put it when he upheld the appeals against conviction: �Here there was abundant evidence to justify prosecution and on one view convictions. It is because, and only because, of the failures of the prosecution when presented with such evidence to have followed necessary legal requirements that has led to this debacle. These failures strike at the rule of law.� The case has resulted in the second major inquiry into Customs methods and procedures within a year. Judge Gerald Butler had been investigating for six months when the Dispatches documentary was screened; he was expected to report in March 2000. Operation Brandfield: Investigating the investigators Yet that report may be superseded by the outcome of another, potentially even more serious, criminal investigation into Customs methods. In February 1999, police swooped on a Customs office in the North of England and arrested two customs officers on suspicion of corruption, although neither has been charged. Both officers were suspended. Allegations have been made that officers set up a smuggling operation involving the importation of cocaine from Latin America to illegally entrap smugglers. The police investigation, code-named Operation Brandfield, is set to become the biggest and most serious corruption probe in Customs history. In January 2000, it entered a new phase when police seized documents from the Leeds office of H M Customs elite National Investigation Service. Following the seizure, a senior officer was suspended. Operation Brandfield now centres on a string of controversial heroin shipments from Pakistan. Up to 200 kilos of heroin -- some of which actually reached the streets -- were imported from Pakistan by professional informants, who had been paid thousands of pounds by Customs in order to catch the buyers in Britain. It is alleged that people have been entrapped by unscrupulous methods; the police are investigating a possible conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. At least four cases against suspected drug smugglers have collapsed and at least seven more are heading towards the Court of Appeal. H M Customs and Excise has never before been subjected to the kind of critical scrutiny that it is under now. In the 1980s, corruption scandals within the police force led to tighter controls. Derek Todd, the former head of Metropolitan Police drug squad, believes that the police 'have learned the lesson' about how to deal effectively with drug law enforcement without running foul of the law themselves. 'I'm not convinced the Customs have learnt that lesson yet,' he told Dispatches. Resources WEBSITES The abc of Drugs www.channel4.com/nextstep/abc/ Straightforward information about both legal and illegal drugs. This Channel 4 website explains what the various drugs are, why people use them, and why they might wish they hadn't. There are also sections on the law and on general safety, and an extensive list of sources of advice and further information. Altered Minds www.channel4.com/nextstep/altered_minds/ Report of the Channel 4 Drugs Commission. Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence (ISDD) www.isdd.co.uk/ The ISDD aims to provide objective, accurate and current information on all aspects of drug misuse for professionals, policy makers and researchers. The website contains �Drugsearch�, an online encyclopaedia on drugs, and provides trends and updates on drug taking, drug seizure and drug laws in the UK. Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (SCODA) www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/scoda.html SCODA seeks to reduce the harmful effects of drug use through informed debate and the promotion of best practice and effective, comprehensive services. An independent membership organisation, providing a voice for drug services and others concerned about the effects of drug use on individuals and communities, its website provides details of services, research findings and links into other sites. The Drugs Prevention Advisory Service www.homeoffice.gov.uk/dpas/dpas.htm The Drugs Prevention Advisory Service was launched on 1 April 1999 by the Home Secretary to promote effective community-based drugs prevention at local, regional and national level in line with the aims and objectives of the Government�s national drugs strategy, Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain, launched in 1998. The website provides reports, drug prevention strategies and links into other sites. HM Customs and Excise www.hmce.gov.uk/ The HM Customs & Excise website provides news, details of rules and regulations, drug seizure results and how the public can help Customs fight drug smuggling. Marijuana.Com www.marijuana.com Website claiming to be the internet�s answer to the drug war, from the Marijuana Freedom Coalition. Gives news on drugs, drug prosecutions and legalisation campaigns from around the world, including the Marijuana News daily internet updates. Release www.release.org.uk/ Release was founded in 1967 in response to the growing number of young people who were coming into contact with illegal drugs. The website gives details of the organisation�s services, links, legal information and drug facts. United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) www.undcp.org/ The UNDCP was established to focus and enhance the capacity of the UN to address the interrelated issues of drug control. The website provides details of global operations, details of services and news reports. FURTHER READING Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall (University of California Press, 1991, �28.50) This shows how, under the cover of national security and covert operations, the US government protected major international drug traffickers. A new preface discusses developments in the six years from 1992 to 1996. Drugs and the Party Line edited by Kevin Williamson (Rebel inc, 1996, �5.99) The use of recreational drugs became the subject of an unprecedented national debate in 1996. The outbreak of media hysteria following the death of Leah Betts and others provoked leading politicians in the UK into following the US lead in declaring a �war� on drugs. Includes an introduction by Irvine Welsh. Drugs: Should We Legalize, Decriminalize or Deregulate? edited by Jeffrey A Schaler (Prometheus Books, 1998, �14.50) This anthology provides an examination of the �war on drugs�, looking at the failures and the expense in both financial and human costs, and asking if governments understand the true nature of the problem. Essential Substances: A Cultural History of Intoxicants in Society by Richard Rudgley (Kodansha International, 1995, �7.99) A cross-cultural history of how humanity�s use of intoxicants has affected societies across the centuries and how attitudes towards these substances have been shaped. Misuse of Drugs and Drug Trafficking Offences by Rudi Fortson (Sweet & Maxwell, 1996, �40) This textbook, in its third edition, offers a practical guide to the complexities of drug law. It contains detailed, technical legislation and case law in an accessible format, and, in addition, it examines how drug problems are approached by the legal system. Street Drugs by Andrew Tyler (Hodder & Stoughton, 1995, �7.99) A definitive guide to illegal drugs available on the street. Written without any moral judgement, the text examines the effects, dangers and history of drugs. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! 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