Desmond Logan
Customs investigator who fought Colombian cartels
DESMOND LOGAN, who has died aged 79, was a dedicated Customs & Excise officer who exercised considerable influence on intelligencebased operations against major drug producing and smuggling cartels in South America.
The son of a surveyor, Desmond Logan was born in Belfast on December 10 1936. Having attended St Malachy’s College, he joined the Waterguard, the uniform branch of HM Customs & Excise, in 1958. He served in Northern Ireland, Southampton and at Heathrow before in 1975 transferring to the Investigation Division.
The following year, along with his partner, Peter Bennett (later shot dead on duty), Logan played a leading role in an investigation into serious smuggling and fraud at the highest levels of the gemstone industry in London and Antwerp, which resulted in the seizure of substantial quantities of diamonds.
Later he became involved in investigating large-scale drug smuggling into Britain. After learning Spanish he was posted in 1986 as First Secretary to the British Embassy in Lima, responsible for gathering intelligence on drug trafficking and in developing the role of drug liaison officers in British embassies in South America.
He orchestrated the arrest and imprisonment of an entire Lima-based organisation, which included senior Peruvian officials, smuggling cocaine into London and Bonn, and oversaw the interception of 20 kgs of cocaine in the diplomatic bag. He also negotiated the release of a kidnapped Briton, only to be berated by the victim for “interfering in his adventure”. In 1989 he transferred to Bogotá, where he presided over the interception of more than 5.7 tonnes of cocaine, valued at £1,700 million.
Logan’s intelligence located the hiding place in Medellin of Gustavo Gaviria, a cousin of Pablo Escobar and number two in the Medellin cartel. Gaviria’s heavily defended house was surrounded and he was killed. A week later, rather than risk a similar fate, Pablo Escobar surrendered.
Working closely with a small, trustworthy group of gallant Colombian AntiNarcotics Police special forces and a detachment of British special forces, Logan controlled his intelligence network so effectively that within months the power of his target cartels began to wane, with many of their “capos” being either killed or taken into custody.
He was able to achieve this through his preternatural ability, common to all great intelligence officers, to judge trustworthiness in others and instil in them total faith in his discretion and an understanding that he would always put their safety first.
In 1994, he was decorated by the Colombians with the Servicios Distinguidos medal.
He retired from C&E in 1996 but continued working in South America, Palestine and Cuba. In Havana he provided training in intelligence gathering and interview techniques, during which the first ever cocaine seizure was made at Havana Airport, and during the course of three months, more than 900kgs were seized. At the end of his stay in Cuba he was personally thanked by Fidel Castro.
In common with many members of HM Customs & Excise he regarded the later reorganisation and rebranding into HM Revenue & Customs as change for change’s sake and lacking in merit.
Logan was appointed MBE in 1991, and took great pride in his membership of the Special Forces Club, having been proposed by members of the SAS.
At the age of 76 he graduated from Ruskin College, Oxford, with a degree in English.
Des Logan was a family man of great personality, a raconteur with a fund of stories and a willingness to assist others on every occasion.
He is survived by his wife Nan, two sons and a daughter.
Desmond Logan, born December 10 1936, died May 20 2016