Three UK nationals have been convicted of drug trafficking offences after using the cargo industry to send crystal meth (methamphetamine) worth £3.5 million to Australia.
Yvonne Stewart, 51, from Croydon, Kevin Filkins, 52, from Sevenoaks and Robert Hamilton, 51, from Orpington were investigated by the Organised Crime Partnership, made up of officers from the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police, after a shipment containing 24 kilograms of the class A drug was seized in Australia.
Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police established that the shipment was from the UK, and OCP investigators found that the drugs had been sent from Croydon on 25 June 2021.
CCTV images identified Stewart, who was working in the cargo sector. The images also captured a man, now identified as Filkins, sending a shipment labelled ‘two glass Buddhas’ to New South Wales, Australia.
Stewart was responsible for the security inspection of the item. However, when the shipment arrived in Australia, it was discovered the drugs had not been concealed inside, meaning she had not properly checked the contents.