TNT Express and Tuffnells duped by drugs gang

27th July 2010

TNT Express and Tuffnells Parcels Express have been unwittingly dragged into a West Midlands gang's drugs smuggling operation according to police.

West Midlands Police say that on around 20 occasions the two businesses transported alloy wheels from the UK to Alicante, Spain for an organised crime gang.

They add that the gang had created a company called Wheels For You and would hide cannabis resin inside stillages containing alloy wheels for transport back from Spain to Lye in the West Midlands.

As part of a police investigation called Operation Purus, TNT carried one of Wheels For You's UK-bound loads on 4 June, and police subsequently discovered 104 bars of cannabis resin, worth approximately £1.5m, hidden in the truck.

Three men have been remanded in custody, charged with drugs smuggling.

DC Dave Twyford says: "We are appealing for any information about hauliers who may have transported similar loads from Alicante to Lye. The haulage company would not be in trouble, because as can be seen with TNT and Tuffnells, the freight looks like normal cargo, and nobody would suspect it was being used for drug trafficking."

Anyone with any information is urged to contact the police on 0345 1135000, or email DC Twyford on d.twyford@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk