£ 44m drugs found in digger’s arm
FIVE men have been charged after drugs worth £ 44million were found hidden in an excavator that was shipped to Australia from the UK.
The arm of the digger had been lined with lead to conceal almost 1,000lb of MDMA. But the packages were picked up after an X- ray at the port of Brisbane.
To catch the ringleaders, police offloaded the cargo, sent from Southampton January, and forwarded to its recipient in Sydney.
With help from British police, officers in Australia this week held two men, aged 33 and 42, in Sydney and charged them in connection with the “global conspiracy”.
Yesterday the National Crime Agency revealed that in it three men in London had been charged over the drugs haul earlier this year.
Danny Brown, 53, and German national Stefan Baldauf, 60, were detained in Putney on June 15, while Peter Murray, 57, was held in Greenwich on October 1.
They will appear at Kingston Crown Court next month charged with conspiring to export class A drugs. Chris Hill, of the NCA, said: “This was a global conspiracy to import huge amounts of class A drugs into the UK, then out to Australia.
“Through close working with our Australian partners and analysis of encrypted messages we were able to uncover this highly organised conspiracy and prevent the criminals behind it from making millions in illicit profits.”