Record narcotics hauls from trucks last year
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• Customs officers at the UK's ports aim to crack down on drug smuggling in lorries harder than ever this year, following record hauls in 1990.
Figures out this week show that hard drugs seizures topped a tonne for the first time, with over a third of the year's heroin haul discovered in a swoop on two HGVs in December at Dover. The two Turkish drivers had £20m worth of heroin under the floorboards of their trucks (CM 13-20 December 1990).
Bruce Davis, assistant collector in charge of investigation for HM Customs and Excise at Dover, says improved international co-operation along the Balkan Route has played a large part in improving drug detection. Heroin is mainly brought from Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran in trucks through the Balkans and then into the EC.
Better intelligence and a highly-trained workforce are also yielding more successful drug swoops, says Davis.
But he admits it is not known if Customs is pulling in a higher percentage of the total drugs traffic, or if volumes seized are increasing because the total amount of drugs imports is increasing.
Recent high profile drugs cases included: ID December 1990: 204kg of heroin seized at Dover from two trucks which had already passed through seven EuroEean border control points. LI August 1990: Maryport owner-driver Carl Gainford jailed for eight years for smuggling .1.5m of cannabis, discovered by a routine check at Hull docks.
1E1 July 1989: East End driver Billy Daniels sentenced to 13 years for knowingly importing a controlled substance.
The Freight Transport Association is to launch a drugs security audit service which will grant successful applicants a 'drug-safe' status for vehicles and premises.