The Organised Crime Partnership, comprised of officers from the National Crime Agency and the Metropolitan Police, investigated Yvonne Stewart, 51, of Croydon, Kevin Filkins, 52, of Sevenoaks, and Robert Hamilton, 51, of Orpington after a shipment containing 24 kilogrammes of the class A drug was seized in Australia. The Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police determined that the shipment originated in the United Kingdom, and OCP investigators discovered that the drugs were sent from Croydon on June 25, 2021. Stewart was identified by CCTV images while working in the cargo sector. The photos also show a man, now identified as Filkins, delivering a package labelled “two glass Buddhas” to New South Wales, Australia. Stewart was in charge of the item’s security inspection. When the shipment arrived in Australia, however, it was discovered that the drugs had not been concealed inside, implying that she had not thoroughly checked the contents. Drugs discovered in Australia Stewart was on the phone with Hamilton at critical times, according to phone records, and Hamilton was in contact with Filkins. Filkins’ phone and vehicles were seen to have travelled from his home address to the vicinity of the cargo centre the same morning, indicating that he had driven the shipment there. OCP investigators discovered that Filkins, Stewart, and Hamilton had collaborated to send two additional shipments to Australia on June 2 and June 24, 2021. The three shipments were sent by three people whose passports were stolen, according to the NCA. Two were paid for with Filkins’ debit card, and the third with a card registered to a person whose passport was stolen. This card, as well as one of the stolen passports, were discovered during a search of Filkins’ home. Filkins, Stewart, and Hamilton were arrested in April 2022 on suspicion of being involved in the exportation of Class A drugs. They were found guilty today (13 January) at Croydon Crown Court following a trial. Hamilton was also found guilty of possessing with intent to supply a Class B drug and producing a Class B drug after a number of cannabis plants were discovered at his residence during his arrest. On March 2, they will be sentenced in the same court. This group used Stewart’s inside knowledge of the cargo industry to get their illegal shipment to Australia,” said Richard Smith of the Organised Crime Partnership. They reasoned that once the shipment had been security checked, the drugs would be undetected until they arrived at their destination. However, our work with the Australian Federal Police has seen this organised crime group’s criminal supply chain dismantled. Our efforts will continue to focus on the supply of class A drugs, which fuels violence and exploitation in the UK and elsewhere.” Detective Sergeant Kristie Cressy, an AFP liaison officer based in London, said members of the AFP’s extensive international network worked closely with the National Crime Agency to identify organised criminals and disrupt the global movement of illicit drugs. The AFP obtained intelligence about an organised crime syndicate allegedly operating in the UK and sending parcels of illicit drugs offshore during an Operation Ironside investigation in Australia,” she said. We worked closely with our counterparts at the National Crime Agency to share intelligence that identified and stopped members of the syndicate operating in the UK.
