terug
Strange customers on the coast
 | 60 | consult the Whitby fishermen, | shore where the wreck is | ||||||||||
| experts in the odd | thought to be. Instead he is | ||||||||||||
| 1 | IMAGINE an English | movements of tide and | 110 | keeping his distance and | |||||||||
| pub at lunchtime. There | current. This was, with hindsight | hoping to do a deal with | |||||||||||
| is something essentially | , amistake. Some said | whoever strikes lucky. And | |||||||||||
| reassuring about it. The | 65 | the yacht would have been | he is patient. | ||||||||||
| 5 | atmosphere is quiet and | swept down the coast to- | 8 | 'Everybody is just waiting | |||||||||
| relaxed. | wards Scarborough; others | 115 | for Customs to leave. Then | ||||||||||
| 2 | The crowd in this particular | maintained the packets of | the real search gets going. | ||||||||||
| pub in Saltburn-by-theSea | hashish would end up in the | There is a real buzz among | |||||||||||
| on the north-east coast | 70 | many bays up the coast towards | the locals.The Customs guys | ||||||||||
| 10 | was typical of the area: an | Saltburn; there was a | are civil servants and there's | ||||||||||
| old lady who regularly | further sc hool of thought | 120 | a limit to how long they can | ||||||||||
| lunches there on her way | that the vessel was jammed | stay.We're entrepreneurs.We | |||||||||||
| home with the shopping; a | on a reef close to the shore; | can wait as long as it takes.' | |||||||||||
| little group of jobless lads | 75 | while still others believed the | 9 | Others are not so patient. | |||||||||
| 15 | with their pints of beer; a | powerful undertow had | One local said : 'The tele- | ||||||||||
| young coupie, heads close | taken it into deep water. A | 125 | phones around here have | ||||||||||
| together; and a drug dealer | gloomy Customs officer | been humming. People want | |||||||||||
| looking to make a deal. | commented: 'We are grateful | to borrow hiking boots or | |||||||||||
| 3 | He was in the corner, | 80 | for the help, but to be honest | fishing rods. Anything th at | |||||||||
| 20 | forty-something, ordinary | the more people we ask the | will give them an excuse to | ||||||||||
| looking in jeans and sweat shirt. | more confusing it gets.' | 130 | get on the beach.' Others | ||||||||||
| We shall call him | 6 | Everybody is agreed , | have dug out ancient wetsuits | ||||||||||
| Geordie. He is not alone. | though, that the huil is still | and are reviving longforgotten | |||||||||||
| Geordie knows of at least | 85 | in tact , otherwise some | surfing skills. One | ||||||||||
| 25 | half a dozen other drug | wreckage would have been | Customs officer, surveying | ||||||||||
| dealers from as far afield as | found. The drugs, broken | 135 | the scene through binoculars, | ||||||||||
| London and Edinburgh , | down into quarter-kilo | said: 'You've never seen so | |||||||||||
| who have in the last nine | blocks, sealed in plastic and | many strange customers out | |||||||||||
| days concentrated on the | 90 | bound with tape, must be | walking their dogs. We can 't | ||||||||||
| 30 | pleasant windy stretch of | intact and still usabie. And | stop them - but we're keep- | ||||||||||
| coast between Whitby and | that is why Geordie and his | 140 | ing a close watch.' | ||||||||||
| Saltburn. Yet more drug | riyal colleagues have arrived | 10 | At sea, Customs have it to | ||||||||||
| dealers have contacted local | on the scene . | themselves. Weil, almost. | |||||||||||
| sourees in the little villages | 7 | 95 | 'The important thing isn't | Dive Action, a firm of commercial | |||||||||
| 35 | between the two resorts and | having the money to buy, but | divers, was originally | ||||||||||
| established communication. | having the contacts,' said | 145 | contacted to help in the | ||||||||||
| 4 | The drug dealers' interest | Geordie, based in the NorthEast. | search, but then Customs | ||||||||||
| all started with the sinking | ' If a man walked in | decided to do the work inhouse | |||||||||||
| off Whitby of the yacht | 100 | now and said he had a ton of | . The company is now | ||||||||||
| 40 | Akiba , which was said to be | blow (cannabis) I could shift | searchi ng for Akiba on a | ||||||||||
| carrying i5 million of | it.' Geordie is going nowhere | 150 | freelance basis, hoping for a | ||||||||||
| Moroccan Black cannabis | near the beaches, where | reward. They have promised | |||||||||||
| resin, or hashish . It had been | Customs are keeping a high | to keep Customs informed. | |||||||||||
| intercepted at sea and was | 105 | profile with constant surveillance | Meanwhile in the pub, | ||||||||||
| 45 | under tow, but was making | , regular beach patrols | Geordie sips his pint and | ||||||||||
| water and had to be cut | and vessels stationed off- | 155 | waits. | ||||||||||
| loose during heavy storms |  | ||||||||||||
| as the two vessels ap proached | |||||||||||||
| the coast. One | |||||||||||||
| 50 | Customs man agreed that it | ||||||||||||
| was a bit stupid : 'They | |||||||||||||
| towed it 170 miles and then | |||||||||||||
| lost it within sight of the | |||||||||||||
| river Tyne. It was bad luck.' | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 55 | Customs know where the | |||||||||||
| vessel went down. The troubie | |||||||||||||
| is it isn't there anymore. | |||||||||||||
| The Customs men decided | |||||||||||||
| to use local know ledge and | |||||||||||||
| The Observer', September 25, 1994 | |||||||||||||