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A drugs gang smuggled £10 million of cocaine into Britain inside UPS parcels in just five weeks with the help of an inside man dubbed the “King”, a court has heard.
Parcels of class A drugs were shipped from the Netherlands to a UPS depot in the UK, all addressed to a semi-detached house in Essex.
Members of the drug trafficking gang, who used aliases including "Veggie Kray", "Ghost" and "Cuddly Bandit", paid around £2,000 for each kilo of cocaine shipped into the UK, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Between mid-April and the end of May 2020, nearly 300 parcels of drugs – with an estimated wholesale value of £10 million – were successfully smuggled through the depot in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex, jurors heard.
Zak Archbold, 30, is suspected of being the gang's "inside man" at the depot, allegedly using his role supervising the loading of delivery vans to ensure the packages of drugs got through.
Encrochat messages recovered by police between gang members refer to "UPS going well" and a series of "dry runs" of packages, with a UPS worker named "King" playing a pivotal role and receiving £750 for every kilo of cocaine successfully shipped in.
Prosecutor Jenny Burgess said Archbold was not part of the conversations on Encrochat – a secure messaging platform – but is said to be the person given the nickname "King".
"It's plain 'King' was involving in the conspiracy, the question is whether 'King' is Zak Archbold," she said.
"He was running the show at Stanford-le-Hope in his role as the pre-load team leader.
"He is responsible for the identification of parcels notified to him by 'Ghost'.
"He was able, in his role at UPS, to facilitate the safe passage of parcels to the drivers for onward delivery."
The court heard one member of the drug smuggling conspiracy, Steven Bullen, has already pleaded guilty, while three others accused of involvement – Benjamin Thake, Craig Merrin and Jurre Faber – are still "at large".
Ms Burgess said: "This is a case about drug trafficking, and the importation of cocaine into the UK through UPS, an international parcel delivery company.
"The prosecution say this defendant, Zak Archbold, who worked at the Stanford-le-Hope UPS facility, played a key role in facilitating the importation."
The court heard drugs packages were all addressed to the same property in Upminster, Essex, and Archbold is accused of using his role as a pre-load team leader to "oversee the unloading of domestic and international parcels, ensuring they were loaded on to the right vehicle for onward delivery".
Ms Burgess continued: "The prosecution say they contained cocaine, they came into the UK from abroad, and Mr Archbold knew they contained cocaine.
"He arranged for them to go on to a particular van to be driven out of the UPS facility, to be collected by others for onward distribution."
Ms Burgess told the jury "attribution of the cypher 'King' is not accepted by Mr Archbold".
The court heard the smuggling operation came to light after a UPS delivery driver was suspected of stealing money handed over by customers when they received parcels.
When questioned by UPS, Archbold admitted knowing about the stolen parcel money, but denied any knowledge of drug smuggling said to involve the same driver.
Archbold, from Braintree in Essex, denies conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of class A, between January 1 to July 1 2020.
The trial continues.
