Zak Archbold, aka ‘King’ used his position as a UPS warehosue supervisor to help smuggle class A drugs worth millions into the UK
Zak Archbold, aka ‘King’(Image: National Crime Agency/PA Wire)
A UPS worker nicknamed ‘King’ who served as the inside man for a £10 million cocaine smuggling ring has been jailed for 12 years.
Zak Archbold, 30, used his role as a supervisor at the UPS depot in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex to help ensure that dozens of parcels containing class A drugs were able to enter the UK after being shipped from the Netherlands.
Southwark Crown Court heard how Archbold used his position of authority to ensure the shipments came through customs undetected and went on to the right truck for collection by another member of the gang.
On Thursday, Judge Nathaniel Rudolf KC sentenced Archbold to 12 years in prison after he was convicted at trial of fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of class A drugs, with evidence showing the smuggling operation involved 290 kilos of cocaine.
Co-defendant Steven Bullen, 51, admitted playing his part in conspiracies to supply a total of 790 kilos of cocaine as well as separate plots to supply 242 kilos of MDMA and 114 kilos of amphetamine, directing operations from his villa in Spain.
He was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years and four months in prison.
Judge Rudolf said Archbold got involved in the drugs ring when he fell into debt, but then “enthusiastically played your part”.
He said Bullen had a leading role in the hierarchy of the drugs gang, where one of the designated drivers was known as the “B52 bomber”, secret compartments were used in cars for the transportation of illicit parcels, and hundreds of kilos of drugs worth tens of millions were sold.
The judge added: “Taking part in the way you both did in high-level criminality involving this amount of drugs is a pathway of risk and reward.
“The reward is financial, and the risk is prosecution and conviction.
“You both chose to walk that pathway and must face the consequences.”
Gemma Vincent, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Bullen was responsible for a “staggering volume of drugs” being smuggled into the UK, and it worked with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement to secure his extradition to face justice.
“Zak Archbold abused his position while working for a reputable courier company and facilitated the importation of cocaine from Europe into the UK,” she added.
“Their convictions would not have been possible without the combined efforts of prosecutors in the UK, Spain and France, Spanish law enforcement teams, and the NCA.
“Going forward, we will seek to confiscate their ill-gotten gains and we hope these sentences serve as a deterrent to other would-be criminals.
“Drugs have a devastating and costly impact on society, and we will continue to work across borders to prosecute those who seek to flood our streets for their own gain.”
The illegal drugs supply operations were cracked when law enforcement agencies gained access in 2020 to the secure EncroChat messaging system, which was used by criminal gangs around the world to direct their operations..
The drug smuggling gang used aliases including “Veggie Kray”, “Ghost” and “Cuddly Bandit” on EncroChat, when they believed their messages were secret, and Archbold was referred to as “King”.
Archbold denied being “King” at trial, but was caught out by messages to a driver warning him that a sideline scheme stealing money from UPS customers was threatening to shine an unwelcome light on the drug smuggling operation.
Judge Rudolf accepted Archbold had been “naive” when he agreed to join the drugs importation scheme.
The judge imposed a serious crime prevention order on Bullen.
Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine, while Bullen also admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply MDMA, and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.
