Brit drug baron's luck runs out
Calpe-based Brian Charrington is currently on trial in Alicante
Calpe-based Brian Charrington is currently on trial in Alicante
THE CHARMED life of Brian Charrington could have been written for the script of a brilliant gangster film, but the drugs baron faces sentencing next week, with the possibility of many years in prison.
The 62-year-old is accused of fronting an international drug trafficking operation from his home in Calpe, and has been held on charges since his arrest in 2013. He was listed in the top 10 most wanted fugitives in the world at the time.
Another eight of his alleged accomplices join him in the dock of Alicante court. They are accused of crimes against public health, document falsification, belonging to a criminal organisation, cover-ups and money laundering. They face sentences of up to 18 years in prison.
If Charrington's case has become famous it is because he never regretted his exploits in the drug field. He was even responsible for updating his own Wikipedia page with details of his achievements and criminal career. He even related that in his early years, he became a confidant of the British police, which allowed him to smuggle a shipment of cocaine to England.
His memoirs began in the late 1980’s, when he created his own drug trafficking network in the northeast of England. In 1991, he travelled to Venezuela on his yacht and came into contact with Colombian drug cartels who would supply large shipments of cocaine to the UK. He managed to introduce a first shipment thanks to his status as a ‘supergrass’ for the British police. The second, weighing 907 kg was intercepted by British customs officers, but his MP man- aged to get the charges dropped and he was sent to Australia to live. On his arrival, however, he was immediately deported, and he eventually settled in Calpe.
From there, and during the 1990’s, he dedicated himself to transporting hashish in large quantities to different parts of Europe. He was arrested in 1999 in Calpe along with his partner, Frenchman Alain Coelier, after Maltese customs intercepted a boat with four tons of hashish on board worth €90 million. He was acquitted of the charges when it was found that customs officers had illegally boarded the boat.
Illegally re-entering the country to see his family in 2002, he was arrested by police near Exeter and faced another trial at Leeds Crown Court involving two suspended detectives and a former detective, which was dismissed when the judge refused to admit a phone tap recording as evidence.
Soon after his court appearance, a warrant was issued by Bow Street Magistrates' Court for his extradition to Germany and, in July 2003, Charrington was sentenced to seven years in Frankfurt, Germany.
After his sentence had been completed, he again settled in Calpe, where he lived for three years between 10 luxury mansions, numerous luxury vehicles and six pleasure boats, again running his trafficking operation. He was finally arrested by Spanish police in 2013 after a large stash of drugs was intercepted in Altea port which had been monitored closely.
The trial began on Monday, and is expected to last up to two weeks.