Huge cocaine cartel smashed after raids in London and Colombia

SCOTLAND Yard yesterday smashed an alleged cocaine cartel which detectives claim was the biggest drug-smuggling gang ever to operate in Britain.

The Colombian network, thought to have been making at least €150 million-a-year by flooding Britain with drugs, was dismantled in a series of raids in both countries, police said.

Twelve people 10 men and two women were arrested in London and more than 15 were held in Colombia.

Two men suspected of being the kingpins of the British end of the operation ran a cafe and money exchange in north London. Police believe they were used to filter huge amounts of drug money back to South America.

One of the men, a 38-year-old Colombian, was held at his home in Canning Town, east London. The other, a 49-year-old Spaniard, was arrested at his three-storey town house in Hornsey, north London.

The dozen arrested in dawn raids were all suspected of being top members of the network but were thought to be living deliberately low-key lifestyles to avoid attracting attention.

Meanwhile, Colombian police carried out an armed search at the home of a suspect believed to be at the head of the organisation.

Detectives in London said breaking up the cartel, which is based near Cali, Colombia, would have a significant impact on the availability and price of cocaine in Britain.

About 100 police officers were involved in the London raids. Most of those held were Colombian nationals but a small number were Spanish.

The cartel was targeted by Scotland Yard's secretive Special Projects Unit (SPU), whose existence was only made public last week.

The 30-strong team of detectives has been targeting the cartel for two years, in an operation codenamed Anuric, after picking up intelligence about their dealings in Britain.

They alerted Colombian police.

Over the last two years about 20 minor players, including couriers, have been arrested in Britain. Most of them have been charged with drugs and money-laundering offences.

Before yesterday Scotland Yard had seized €30m worth of cocaine connected to the gang and other seizures had been made by customs and the National Crime Squad.

Detective Chief Superintendent Sharon Kerr, head of the Flying Squad, said: "This is the biggest drugs operation and cartel that has ever been seen in this country.

"This was the final stage of an operation against an enduring, sophisticated and hard-to-penetrate criminal network and it's an example of how we can take out an entire criminal network from the top-tier organisers right down to those who peddle drugs on the streets," she said.

Ms Kerr said: "This is the biggest drugs criminal organisation that has ever operated on the streets of London and it will have a significant impact on the availability of cocaine in London and clearly prices will rise," she said.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Molloy, head of the SPU, said 17 addresses were searched across London.

The arrests were mostly in Holloway, north London, in east London and in Brixton, south London, and €360,000 in loose cash was found.

Mr Molloy said the scale of the network was illustrated by the fact two gang members had allegedly laundered €25m through just one business in 12 months. In another case one individual is suspected of laundering €14.5m through a delicatessen.