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UPS Worker ‘King’ Jailed for 12 Years over £10m Cocaine Smuggling Operation
NCA investigators linked 1.1 tonnes of cocaine and thousands of Encrochat messages to the cross-border network.
- On Thursday, Southwark Crown Court sentenced Steven Bullen, 51, to 16 years and four months in prison, while corrupt UPS employee Zak Archbold, 30, received 12 years for orchestrating a massive cocaine smuggling operation from Spain and the Stanford-le-Hope depot.
- EncroChat messages revealed how Bullen directed drug distribution from his villa in Spain while Archbold, using his supervisor role at the UPS depot, ensured illicit parcels bypassed detection during Operation Venetic investigations.
- Bullen admitted to supplying 790 kilos of cocaine, 242 kilos of MDMA, and 114 kilos of amphetamine, while Archbold received £750 for every kilogram successfully smuggled through the UPS facility between April and May 2020.
- Judge Nathaniel Rudolf KC stated Archbold "enthusiastically played your part" in the scheme, characterizing the crimes as a "pathway of risk and reward" where both defendants chose prosecution and conviction over financial gain.
- Senior Investigating Officer Steve Black of the National Crime Agency said authorities will "seek to confiscate their ill-gotten gains," ensuring the international operation halts drug distribution across Britain and deters future criminality.
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Total News Sources15
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution79% Center
Bias Distribution
- 79% of the sources are Center
79% Center
14%
C 79%
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