Inside UK police drive’s genius trick to convey down ‘Breaking Bad’ cartel drug gang
In a daring trap, the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit busted a Mexican drug cartel bringing Class As into the UK and seized 11.8kgs of crystal meth valued at £1.2m
UK police set a cunning and daring trap to catch a “Breaking Bad” Mexican drug cartel bringing crystal meth into the UK.
The elaborate ruse featured in the latest episode of Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody. Viewers were given an insider look at the major police bust that led to seizure of £1.5million worth of drugs in Norwich.
The show followed the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, a specialist task force geared for fighting organised crime, as they launched a stealth operation against a Mexican cartel, which they suspected were flooding the UK with Class A drugs.
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At Stansted Airport, police intercepted a package from Colombia – almost 1kg of cocaine stuffed into a boat part, which had a wholesale value of £30,000.
Realising this could be a way to potentially nab the crime gang, the police replaced the drugs with a dummy stash and let the placebo cargo be delivered to its final destination – a luxury property in Norwich.
After the order was given to make more arrests, cops found Mexican tattoo artist Axel Cruz living in the plush pad, and took him into custody. A search of the property unearthed vast quantities of a substance that had a chemical smell and which looked like glass shards.
Forensic analysis confirmed it was a hefty 11.8 kilos of methyl-amphetamine – crystal meth – which can be produced in vast quantities and is highly addictive, while cops estimated the amount of the Class A drug had a street value of £1.2million.
One officer said: “It looks like it’s from Breaking Bad.”
Cruz offered several excuses for the cocaine, as he tried to deny his guilt, calling the situation a “big coincidence”. “To be honest I woke up to a guy knocking at my door, he was standing there with a box,” he said during a police interview. “I was half asleep and I accepted it, took it in, I don’t know, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to open it.”
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When questioned about the crystal meth, Cruz said that he “had no clue about that”, adding: “I’ve never seen that in my life. I would have chucked that in the f****** river.”
Eventually, Cruz pleaded guilty to the importation of cocaine and methyl-amphetamine and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He said that he didn’t know who was in charge of the overall operation.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Birch said: “It’s a huge concern to see the cartel trying to infiltrate our region.
“The cartels are so prolific, all they want is to be able to flood the market here with their commodity.”
