BA man held in major drug plot
Surrey police were questioning a top British Airways engineer yesterday over an alleged £13 million cocaine trafficking plot at Heathrow airport.
The unnamed man was one of six people arrested in raids by more than 100 police and Customs and Excise staff.
The “senior” BA employee worked at Terminal 4 but had access to “all parts of the airport”. Police said the airline employee may have used his security clearance to collect packages from drug couriers.
The group has been under surveillance for the last four months, and was believed to be intent on smuggling 440lbs of the class A drug into the UK.
The group had plans to meet couriers or “mules” off flights arriving at Heathrow.
One man has been released with a caution for possessing class A drugs, but four men and a woman, including the BA employee, were still in custody as of last night.
Peter Avery, assistant chief investigation officer of Customs and Excise, said: “This should send a message to all those involved in criminal activities, whether at importation or street level. That is: we will catch you.”
