Customs assist in UK drug arrests

 

Between December 2012 and April 2013 almost a kilo of powder, mostly the Class B controlled drug mephedrone with a Jersey street value of almost £60,000, was seized by Jersey Customs and Immigration Officers working at the Post Office.

 

The seizures followed an investigation into a trend for controlled drugs being ordered over the internet and imported through the postal system. One of the websites involved in this supply was called www.wide-mouth-frogs.com and it was established that the website was based in the Greater Manchester area.

 

Information on these seizures was shared with the UK North West Regional Organised Crime Unit based in Manchester and, working with the Greater Manchester Police, twelve people have now been arrested in the Greater Manchester area for drug trafficking and money laundering offences.

 

UK Officers are investigating the sale of approximately 313 kilograms of mephedrone with a UK street value of £3.8 million through www.wide-mouth-frogs.com which was run from a unit in Bolton.

 

The director of Law Enforcement for Jersey Customs and Immigration Service, David Nurse said "This is an excellent result that shows the importance of sharing information and co-operating with other law enforcement authorities outside the Island.

 

"Importations into Jersey by the postal system of internet sourced controlled drugs have dramatically reduced due to the action taken both locally and in the UK. The Service continues to investigate all existing and emerging methods of importating controlled drugs into the Island and will always, where appropriate, look to move upstream from local drug importers."