Furloughed port and airport staff “could be exploited by criminal gangs”

As global restrictions on the movement of people and goods are further relaxed, the alert warns that staff who have a detailed knowledge of controls and processes around the border could be targeted.

The warning has been issued to companies at the border, including port and airport operators, contractors, couriers and freight operators as their furloughed staff return to work following the easing of COVID-enforced restrictions.

NCA borders threat lead Beki Wright said: “Life has been difficult for everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic, including those staff who work at the border, but organised criminals are alive to the opportunities this presents.”

Wright continued: “The prospect of having your bills paid in exchange for disclosing knowledge about the UK border might seem appealing, but the people behind these offers are high-harm criminals responsible for drug smuggling, gun running, money laundering and people trafficking.”

Further, Wright stated: “Working with our partners at the Department for Transport and Border Force, we are determined to do all we can to combat corruption and dismantle the criminal networks responsible for it.”

Rob Allen, deputy director for the Border Force Insider Threat and Integrity Team, commented: “We are absolutely committed to tackling organised crime and doing whatever is necessary to protect the public from harm. We welcome opportunities such as working with the National Crime Agency to disrupt organised criminal networks.”

Organised criminal networks

In recent years, National Crime Agency investigations and intelligence have identified examples of organised criminal networks targeting those working at ports and airports, parcel hubs and delivery centres. While the numbers are relatively low, the impact of any corrupt insiders can be extremely high.

The National Crime Agency’s 2021 National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised crime states that organised crime gangs’ efforts to establish new insider contacts are likely to increase as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Amber Alert issued by the agency warns that organised crime gangs frequently offer financial support in return for knowledge and access to restricted areas. This can be used to help smuggle illicit commodities such as firearms and drugs, or the movement of vulnerable people and children through organised immigration crime.

Organised crime gangs may approach workers face-to-face or online, posing as recruiters or using some other legitimate pretext.

Beki Wright observed: “We are aware that staff can be contacted via social media channels and would urge anyone who has been approached in this or any other way to contact us immediately. Your actions could help prevent serious criminality. If you are or have been approached or you have information please contact Crimestoppers anonymously, either online or by phone on 0800 555 111. If you have the means to report it through your employer or access to a whistle-blowing scheme, you can use that. Please do not turn a blind eye.”

Case Studies

In February 2020, Ben Whitby was stopped by police on his way home from Killingholme Docks where he worked as a tug operator. The glove box of his car was found to contain a package of cocaine with a street value of £150,000 and £3,000 in cash.

Whitby was also found to have an active Encro-device, a mobile telephone handset specifically and exclusively used to send and receive sophisticated encrypted communications. These have been favoured by serious and organised criminals prior to Operation VENETIC as a means of preventing law enforcement’s interception of messages.

A subsequent search of Whitby’s home discovered a further £20,000 in cash and a collection of high-value watches, both indicative of an income far beyond what his work at the port paid.

In June last year, Whitby was sentenced to a total of six years and nine months’ imprisonment for possession of cocaine and money laundering.

In April 2018, baggage handler Joysen Jhurry was among 11 defendants attending court for their role in a plot to smuggle cannabis and cocaine into the UK. Jhurry was observed on CCTV moving suitcases that had arrived from Brazil on to the domestic reclaim belt, where they would be collected by couriers.

A substantial quantity of Class A drugs was recovered and it transpired that over 100 kg cocaine and 44 kg cannabis had been imported into the UK using this method. Jhurry was subsequently jailed for 16 years for his role in the wrongdoing.

In September 2019, a long-running and complex National Crime Agency investigation resulted in the conviction of Tilbury port worker Michael Fowler, who was jailed for 14 years.

Fowler was part of an organised crime gang that moved ‘dirty’ containers carrying drugs to areas of the port where they were more easily accessible, thereby enabling the recovery of the drugs by outside gang members.