Importing Columbian agricultural products and bail.
Discussion
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj4p6yjrmo
So a shipment of questionable South American produce, with an alleged value of £232 million was intercepted in Essex and the cheeky wee scamps allegedly involved with the import were arrested and then released on bail.
I assume that the police or border force people felt the individuals involved didn't pose a threat and weren't going to abscond the country but surely with such a large importation operation the 9 budding entrepreneurs posed a significant risk plus the granting of bail sends out a somewhat 'soft on crime' message. The article states the authorities received a "tip off" about the shipment so maybe there's a lot more to the story that isn't in the public domain yet.
So can anyone explain how the decision to grant bail was reached and importantly, if it was a poor decision considering the amounts of marching powder involved.
So a shipment of questionable South American produce, with an alleged value of £232 million was intercepted in Essex and the cheeky wee scamps allegedly involved with the import were arrested and then released on bail.
I assume that the police or border force people felt the individuals involved didn't pose a threat and weren't going to abscond the country but surely with such a large importation operation the 9 budding entrepreneurs posed a significant risk plus the granting of bail sends out a somewhat 'soft on crime' message. The article states the authorities received a "tip off" about the shipment so maybe there's a lot more to the story that isn't in the public domain yet.
So can anyone explain how the decision to grant bail was reached and importantly, if it was a poor decision considering the amounts of marching powder involved.
That news story shows bugger all
The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
TwistingMyMelon said:
That news story shows bugger all
The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
Genuine LOL's, I can assure you that I am not a frother and my melons are not getting twisted.The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
My question is specifically about the bail granted to the 9 individuals and nowhere did I make assumptions about their nationalities or ethnicity. Additionally I am more than aware of the negative connotations regarding Columbia and its problems around narcotics, having a number of Columbian friends.
Additionally I clearly stated that there might be more to the story that isn't in the public domain.
I hope you have a fabulously productive day young un.
LRDefender said:
TwistingMyMelon said:
That news story shows bugger all
The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
Genuine LOL's, I can assure you that I am not a frother and my melons are not getting twisted.The people arrested could have just been truck drivers - import agency staff etc , the CPS p/police advised they couldnt hold them, the rules are quite strict.
Good chance they didnt know the drugs where there, which would suit the crims overseeing it.
Lots of goods are imported from Colombia, it is a wonderful country that people badly often stereotype.
Maybe do some more research before you start frothing?
My question is specifically about the bail granted to the 9 individuals and nowhere did I make assumptions about their nationalities or ethnicity. Additionally I am more than aware of the negative connotations regarding Columbia and its problems around narcotics, having a number of Columbian friends.
Additionally I clearly stated that there might be more to the story that isn't in the public domain.
I hope you have a fabulously productive day young un.
I would imagine they were released as they didnt have enough evidence to hold them, plus these investigations take months /years to complete . I'd bet a large sum of money on the arrested being British nationals who were not aware of the contents, or minor players.
24hours in police custody et al often feature the investigations and the people involved.
Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Tuesday 11th August 13:15
Prisons are full and existing violent offenders are being released early to make room for new violent offenders.
Drug dealers are generally only a threat to other drug dealers so shouldn't be any issue with suitably strict bail.
Wider question of how many prison places are taken up by drug users and suppliers. What alternatives to prison are there to leave room for the violent folk?
Drug dealers are generally only a threat to other drug dealers so shouldn't be any issue with suitably strict bail.
Wider question of how many prison places are taken up by drug users and suppliers. What alternatives to prison are there to leave room for the violent folk?
Police (rightly) cannot just arrest people and hold them indefinitely - after a certain amount of time they have to be charged or released.
There's no mention of charges, so likely the police didn't have enough evidence to charge the individuals by the time the deadline passed. At which point there's not really much of a decision to be made - they can either be released on police bail (different to being released on bail by a court after you've been charged), or just released unconditionally. Evidently the police wanted to make further inquiries, so released them on police bail.
The news report includes no information on who the people were or how they were connected to the case, so it's not really useful to speculate further. They could have been a truck driver who may or may not have known what was in the crates that he was carrying, or people (loosely) connected to the address the drugs were headed to, or (loosely) connected to the company the consignment was registered to etc etc, all of whom may or may not have had any knowledge of what was going on.
Doubtless police/border force will continue their inquiries and maybe some of the people will be rearrested and charged. But probably not all of them - I imagine the procedure in a bust like this is along the lines of arrest everybody in sight, and work out who was actually in on it later.
There's no mention of charges, so likely the police didn't have enough evidence to charge the individuals by the time the deadline passed. At which point there's not really much of a decision to be made - they can either be released on police bail (different to being released on bail by a court after you've been charged), or just released unconditionally. Evidently the police wanted to make further inquiries, so released them on police bail.
The news report includes no information on who the people were or how they were connected to the case, so it's not really useful to speculate further. They could have been a truck driver who may or may not have known what was in the crates that he was carrying, or people (loosely) connected to the address the drugs were headed to, or (loosely) connected to the company the consignment was registered to etc etc, all of whom may or may not have had any knowledge of what was going on.
Doubtless police/border force will continue their inquiries and maybe some of the people will be rearrested and charged. But probably not all of them - I imagine the procedure in a bust like this is along the lines of arrest everybody in sight, and work out who was actually in on it later.
Aretnap said:
Police (rightly) cannot just arrest people and hold them indefinitely - after a certain amount of time they have to be charged or released.
There's no mention of charges, so likely the police didn't have enough evidence to charge the individuals by the time the deadline passed. At which point there's not really much of a decision to be made - they can either be released on police bail (different to being released on bail by a court after you've been charged), or just released unconditionally. Evidently the police wanted to make further inquiries, so released them on police bail.
The news report includes no information on who the people were or how they were connected to the case, so it's not really useful to speculate further. They could have been a truck driver who may or may not have known what was in the crates that he was carrying, or people (loosely) connected to the address the drugs were headed to, or (loosely) connected to the company the consignment was registered to etc etc, all of whom may or may not have had any knowledge of what was going on.
Doubtless police/border force will continue their inquiries and maybe some of the people will be rearrested and charged. But probably not all of them - I imagine the procedure in a bust like this is along the lines of arrest everybody in sight, and work out who was actually in on it later.
Thank you for your detailed reply. There's no mention of charges, so likely the police didn't have enough evidence to charge the individuals by the time the deadline passed. At which point there's not really much of a decision to be made - they can either be released on police bail (different to being released on bail by a court after you've been charged), or just released unconditionally. Evidently the police wanted to make further inquiries, so released them on police bail.
The news report includes no information on who the people were or how they were connected to the case, so it's not really useful to speculate further. They could have been a truck driver who may or may not have known what was in the crates that he was carrying, or people (loosely) connected to the address the drugs were headed to, or (loosely) connected to the company the consignment was registered to etc etc, all of whom may or may not have had any knowledge of what was going on.
Doubtless police/border force will continue their inquiries and maybe some of the people will be rearrested and charged. But probably not all of them - I imagine the procedure in a bust like this is along the lines of arrest everybody in sight, and work out who was actually in on it later.
The lack of information & detail is frustrating but I guess that we have to wait for the investigation to conclude.
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