UPS insider jailed for helping smuggle £10m of cocaine

A UPS depot insider nicknamed "King" who helped a drugs gang smuggle cocaine worth £10m into Britain has been jailed for 12 years.

Parcels of class A drugs were shipped from the Netherlands to a UPS depot in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, all addressed to a semi-detached house in Upminster, east London.

Zak Archbold, 30, of Braintree, pleaded not guilty to fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of class A drugs at Southwark Crown Court.

A jury found him guilty of being the gang's inside man at the depot in April.

Sentencing him on Thursday, Judge Nathaniel Rudolf KC said Archbold had got involved in the drugs ring when he fell into debt, but then "enthusiastically played your part".

Co-defendant Steven Bullen, 51, admitted playing his part in conspiracies to supply a total of 790kg (1,740lb) of cocaine as well as separate plots to supply 242kg (533lb) of MDMA and 114kg (251lb) of amphetamines, directing operations from his villa in Spain.

Rudolf said Bullen had played a leading role in the hierarchy of the drugs gang and sentenced him to 16 yearsand four months in jail.

Gemma Vincent, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said Bullen was responsible for smuggling a "staggering volume of drugs" into the UK.

The CPS worked with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement to secure his extradition.

"Zak Archbold abused his position while working for a reputable courier company and facilitated the importation of cocaine from Europe into the UK," she said.

The CPS hopes to "confiscate their ill-gotten gains", she added.

The court heard that between mid-April and the end of May 2020, almost 300 parcels - with an estimated wholesale value of £10m - were smuggled through the depot.

About £2,000 was paid by the gang for each kilo of cocaine shipped into the UK, the court was told, while Archbold received £750 for every kilo successfully shipped in.

The operation was exposed when law enforcement agencies around the world gained access to the secure Encrochat messaging system, used by a swathe of criminal gangs.

The gang used aliases on the messaging system, including "Veggie Kray", "Ghost" and "Cuddly Bandit". Archbold was referred to as "King" in messages.

Prosecutor Jenny Burgess said Archbold was directed by "Ghost", and the messages showed he was "running the show" at the UPS depot.

The court has also heard that three other men accused of involvement in the drugs ring, Benjamin Thake, Craig Merrin and Jurre Faber, are still at large.

The judge imposed a serious crime prevention order on Bullen.

Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine, while Bullen also admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply MDMA, and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.

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