UK cops may fight drug-traffickers

Prominent in combating illicit narcotics in the UK is Scotland Yard’s retired detective chief superintendent Dave King, who was introduced at a recent media conference with local top cops, Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul and Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT)’s Brig Peter Joseph.

Up to last year King headed a British anti-narcotics unit, holding the post of the National Crime Squad’s Head of Drugs.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) web site (updated 22 March 2006) said the National Crime Squad of the Police Force performs high quality investigations that target the very top level of criminality.

The BBC said: “Their unique position in UK law enforcement enables them to proactively pursue those who commit and facilitate serious and organised crime affecting England and Wales, including major international drug trafficking, money laundering, arms smuggling, counterfeit currency, kidnapping and extortion, people smuggling, and high-tech crime.”

King was specifically mentioned in several stories in the British press.

The Sunday Mirror ran a story on January 16, 2005 entitled “Route of Evil” saying Britain faces a new flood of cheap cocaine since Colombian drug cartels were co-operating with the Moroccan mafia to open new smuggling routes into Britain. In the story King is quoted as saying: “Traffickers will use any route they can to get their drugs into Britain.”

Another story in January 2005 entitled “Police crackdown on class A drug dealers” spoke of King’s role in “Operation Crackdown”, a three-month national campaign run by the Home Office and involving 32 police officers in Britain to disrupt local drug markets and bring dealers to justice. As the then Head of Drugs in the National Crime Squad, King had said: “We will be working closely with partners such as National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (HMC&E) to make a real impact on serious and organised ‘class A’ criminality which affects all communities nationally.”