Posted by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from
Telegraph UK![]() |
| Traditional Method of Snorting Lines of Coke |
By: Rosina Sabur July 24, 2017
A brutal Mexican drug cartel responsible for decapitations and torture is planning to flood Britain's drug market with huge quantities of cocaine. The Sinaloa cartel has reportedly made a pact with a Romanian crime gang who have control over goods lorries, allowing the cartel to operate in Britain on a large scale, the Times has revealed. The alliance with its infamous drug lords, often described as the largest and most powerful cartel in the western hemisphere, will increase fears over the level of security at the UK's borders.
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| Port of Dover, UK |
The National Crime Agency has warned the unnamed Romanian gang is able to bring large quantities of cocaine to the UK on a weekly basis using HGV goods vehicles (Semi tractor trailer trucks often transporting shipping containers). It is thought places such as Liverpool's docks and ports in Dover, Folkestone and Harwich are key entry points for smuggling in a large amount of cocaine through huge shipping containers. The group's leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has boldly escaped from maximum security prisons twice in Mexico and is currently awaiting trial in New York.
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| Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera |
While links between Central American cartels and British crime syndicates are nothing new, the Sinaloa's brutal methods has caused concern over its influence on the increasingly violent British drugs trade.
It is feared children are being used as mules to deliver drugs to rural areas from major cities.
A spokeswoman for the NCA said: “There were a limited number of historic serious organised crime (SOCA) operations which had links between Liverpool based organised crime groups (OCG) and Mexican cocaine suppliers.
“These drugs were transported via courier to varying European airports such as Frankfurt and Brussels before transiting on to the UK. A number of these couriers were intercepted at European airports with 4-5 kgs of cocaine in their possession. A 2014 MPS operation involved the rip on of cocaine at Mexico City airport and the rip off at London Heathrow.
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| UK's NCA LEOs |
“NCA in collaboration with International partners identified a Romanian OCG with the capability to import large amounts of cocaine into the UK on a weekly basis using HGV transport. Intelligence indicates that the Romanian OCG are still being supplied by a Mexican OCG linked to the Sinaloa Cartel."
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| Kilo Bricks of Cocaine Packaged for Shipping |
It is estimated as much as 100 tonnes of cocaine is shipped to the country each year, but the majority is intercepted by law enforcement agencies.
The NCA believes the Sinaloa cartel has been drawn to the UK because of its lucrative market, where customers are prepared to pay large sums for cocaine.
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Storage Compartment on Schoolbus
2016, a Romanian coach driver was arrested and sentenced to 17 years after he was caught trying to smuggle £18m (US$23 million) worth of cocaine into the UK on a coach full of schoolchildren. |
The cocaine was found when the coach, travelling from Dunkirk, France, stopped at Eastern Docks in Dover.
