EXCLUSIVE
BY DAVID BRUCE
CHIEF CRIME REPORTER
OPERATION Caddy began as a fairly routine investigation into an illegal skunk cannabis factory in West Yorkshire – but ended with police smashing international plots to smuggle tens of millions of pounds worth of drugs into Britain from across the globe.
Only now can it be revealed how initially one – and later two more – undercover police officers infiltrated international gangs with links spreading from the UK to Spain, the Far East and South America during a four-year operation.
Details could not be published until the final court case involving the last accused.
The undercover cops, one a female officer, had to play a deadly cat and mouse game with gangs of international criminals, knowing that they were playing for high stakes – and their lives were in danger if their cover was blown.
It has now emerged that each time the undercover cops met the suspected conspirators they had a police back-up team nearby. Other West Yorkshire officers travelled – by entirely different routes – to meetings abroad, providing covert protection for their colleagues. Spanish police, too, played a vital role, waiting in the wings.
In the early days, the first undercover cop assumed the identity of "Kyle Murray" an aviation leasing company boss looking to make a quick, if illegal, buck. He worked from offices specially set up by police in Horsforth, Leeds, where every call and visit was filmed and recorded.
At one stage, "Kyle" had to cough up £30,000 to establish his credibility with the ever-suspicious villains.
Cheekily, the undercover cop explained that the large sum of cash left him a bit short – and he was handed back £3,000 as pocket money.
Bluff
Over the coming months, Kyle was joined by the second undercover officer "Michael Francis" and the duo – members of an elite and highly secret national police unit – firmly established themselves within a gang planning to import drugs into Britain.
Theirs was a dangerous and complex life of bluff and counter-bluff, mingled with high drama and at times raw humour.
Events began early in 1995 when a Leeds-based detective, Kevin Empson, picked up a snippet of information that a gang was cultivating skunk cannabis – a particularly potent variety of the drug – at a farm in Wakefield.
Det Chief Supt Phil Revill-Johnson, in charge of the operation from the outset, said: "It sounded interesting so we decided to check it out, particularly as the information the officer received suggested the gang wanted to move upmarket and import drugs from Spain".
For weeks, officers kept covert observations on an outbuilding at Agbrigg Farm, on Doncaster Road, Wakefield, filming the comings and goings of the skunk gang, including brothers Tony and Jack Martin.
The first twist came when the farmer's wife called Yorkshire Water to report problems with the farm water supply – not knowing that the skunk gang had diverted water to the outbuilding to feed a hydroponic cannabis cultivation system.
The gang quickly decided to relocate to premises at Castleford before the water company rumbled their operation.
The next twist came when police realised that skunk gang member Jack Martin was driving around in a Rover car which had been stolen from a car rental company's premises in Leeds in 1995.
Detectives approached the car rental firm, discreetly, explaining they knew where the car was but didn't yet want to recover it and arrest the driver – not yet.
Had they moved in at that stage, police would – under legal rules of disclosure – have had to reveal to any defence lawyers that Martin was under observation, putting their undercover officer at risk. The firm agreed to go along with the police subterfuge.
The car rental company then became impatient, asking for the return of the stolen vehicle, which was on false registration plates.
So, in the dead of night, officers using a set of spare keys "stole" the Rover car from Jack Martin's driveway. Martin cheekily reported the theft of "his car" to police. He claimed he purchased it in October 1995 – but undercover police had seen him driving it around months earlier. Jack Martin put in an insurance claim and even instructed solicitors to sue the insurance company when they refused to pay up. His efforts came to nothing after a quiet word from the police.
Raid
The skunk gang was now in premises on an industrial estate at Castleford, which could not easily be kept under observation by police. Officers then began to fear the plants were ready for "cropping" – allowing the gang to flood the drugs market. Again, if officers moved in and arrested the gang it would put their undercover officer at risk of exposure because of disclosure laws
The dilemma was solved. Det Chief Supt Revill-Johnson explained: "We raided the premises when no-one was around – thereby not taking any prisoners and not having to disclose how we knew about the operation."
The gang's skunk operation was smashed and Kyle's cover remained intact.
Kyle was then introduced by the skunk team to Eric Mason, a Londoner wanting to get in on the act. Completely hoodwinked by the undercover officer's assumed identity, Mason happily introduced him to a John Barnham, who lived in an imposing villa on Spain's Costa del Sol.
Mason and Kyle went to Spain to see Barnham. Mason introduced Kyle as a money launderer, who could "move" money with the help of a corrupt banker friend. He would happily process large sums of money for a commission – usually around five per cent.
Around that time, Kyle was asked to provide £30,000 as proof of his credibility. Handing over the cash convinced Barnham that he could be totally trusted. Early on, Barnham confided in Kyle that they were planning to import vast amounts of cannabis from Morocco, using a container owned by a "business contact" based in Morocco. But, in the spring of 1996, the Moroccan businessman got cold feet on the multi-million drugs deal and pulled out. The plot died in the water.
At about that time, the second undercover officer – known under the assumed identity of Michael Francis – came into the picture. He was introduced, by Kyle, as a freight forwarding agent – ideally placed to ship "goods" around the world's oceans, no questions asked.
Camouflage
With the collapse of the Moroccan deal, Barnham was desperate for a new "importer". Into the picture came Ronald James Everett, who lived in Marbella, and Daniel Redmond, who lived in Mijas, also in Spain.
Barnham introduced the two undercover cops to Everett and Redmond. They all met in a famous restaurant, El Hiqueron, high in the cool of the mountains near Benalmadena, with magnificent views overlooking the Mediterranean, in July 1996. Conversation quickly turned to plans to ship huge quantities of cannabis from "the Far East".
Police chiefs decided it would be too dangerous to have the undercover officers "wired" for that first meeting because suspicions might be aroused over the new man, undercover cop Michael.
A series of meetings took place – at the same restaurant – in the coming weeks and months. Initially Redmond talked of importing "goods" from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Undercover cop Michael talked about import quotas and customs procedures at different ports and explained he was fully capable of sorting the necessary paperwork.
There was talk of the need to provide the correct type of goods to camouflage the presence of the drugs. They then talked prices for arranging the transportation. Just over two weeks later Barnham told Kyle, in a phone call, that they thought Michael's charges were too high. A further meeting was arranged to negotiate new prices at the same restaurant.
Barnham, Redmond and Everett were present – with the two undercover officers – when a bombshell was dropped on the cops. Everett seemed troubled. Barnham expressed his concern explaining he (Everett) was concerned Kyle might be a "bogey", a police officer. And, Everett added "Or Mick is?".
It was a tense moment. But quick-thinking Kyle talked their way clear. He asked colleague Michael to leave – and then managed to talk up their credentials and win back the villains' confidence.
The meeting continued and Redmond then declared they were planning to import between eight and eleven tonnes of cannabis on each delivery.
Two weeks later yet another meeting was arranged for the same restaurant in Spain. In September 1996 the same five met and Kyle explained that his syndicate had a corrupt line agent working in the Port of Liverpool who could ensure the safe passage of a container through the port and on to a safe warehouse – from where the drugs could be collected.
Everett revealed their bottom line shipment would be about six tonnes and confirmed they were talking about cannabis. Redmond added that the point of origin of the drugs was Laos or Cambodia and then to Rotterdam for onward shipping to England. The shipment would be hidden in a consignment of linen with the name of a legitimate linen buyer on the paperwork.
It became clear that Redmond and Everett had close links with drug importers based in Holland who, in turn, traded with Chinese exporters in the Far East and the duo looked after imports into the UK.
Between October and December 1996, Kyle made a series of calls to either Barnham or Redmond, in Spain, asking for the consignment details so he could complete the paperwork for the shipping and importation arrangements.
Paper
It was about this time that the third undercover cop – using the assumed name Jay Sanga – appeared on the scene as Kyle's girlfriend. She was present at a number of subsequent meetings.
A problem arose early in December. Redmond had been to Holland to meet his two Dutch contacts to collect the paperwork for the container – but they had failed to turn up. Norman Radford confided to the cops that the container had left Laos or Cambodia on December 12 but they didn't know where it was because they didn't have the paperwork.
The truth was that Dutch river police had arrested the two Dutch contacts on an entirely separate matter and the two were held incommunicado for weeks. Michael offered to try and help trace the container but explained there was little chance of success because he did not have the container number.
Early in 1997 Barnham and Redmond visited Dublin for a social gathering. Kyle and Michael were invited to join them at the Hole in the Wall pub in Dublin. Kyle wore a covert tape recorder.
On that tape, Redmond reveals that he went to Holland to meet two Dutch contacts. He believed they had been arrested by police. He was concerned not only about the missing paperwork but also the possibility that their planned drugs importation might have been rumbled by the authorities.
Kyle and Michael returned to the UK and everything went quiet for three months. On March 31 Barnham spoke on the phone to Kyle effectively saying that the two Dutch contacts had been arrested on a different matter but were now released on bail.
Police admit it is still not clear whether the container with the cannabis did leave Laos or Cambodia on December 12.
In May 1997, the gang had a further, major setback. Police in Portugal arrested Barnham for a totally unconnected matter. He was kept in custody for 12 months but was eventually acquitted in Spain.
During that period Barnham was out of the picture his son Jonathan, at that time the fiance of former EastEnders actress Martine McCutcheon, took over the role as go-between.
At one later meeting, undercover cop Kyle received a hostile reception from Redmond and Everett. They had apparently checked on Michael's cover company, TCL Associates and were not convinced it was bona fide. They also suspected police might have been aware of the meeting in Dublin.
Again, Kyle used his powers of persuasion to convince the two conspirators that everything was all right. Barnham and Everett appeared satisfied.
Stalled
The conspirators then revealed a ship was ready to sail on May 26 from Singapore to Liverpool via Rotterdam. The paperwork would show an invoice address of a mill in Yorkshire to which the linen hiding the cannabis was being sent. The drugs consignment was to be 8.2 tonnes.
During the summer of 1997 the proposed importation from the Far East seemed to have stalled, however. In November another meeting was held at the restaurant in Benalmadena. Kyle travelled to Spain for a meeting with Redmond and Everett at the same restaurant. Everett, caught on tape, apologised to Kyle for all the messing about over the Far Eastern shipment.
Ultimately, that importation never happened.
There then followed a period of quiet as police and legal advisors compiled the prosecution case.
In 1999 police began to make the first arrests, including those involved in the skunk cannabis factory and, with the help of Spanish police, those involved in the international conspiracy. Several extradition hearings were fought. The most bizarre arrest was that of Norman Radford.
Det Chief Supt Phil Revill-Johnson was in Torremolinos in Spain when he suddenly spotted him near the town's court building and he was arrested by Spanish police.
The undercover operation also led to two other men who had been introduced to undercover cop Kyle being jailed for plotting to import cocaine from South America. Patrick O'Sullivan, 64, from Chiswick, London, was jailed for 20 years for conspiracy to import. He was also made the subject of a confiscation order for £231,288. John Hardy, 60, from Manchester, was jailed for 14 years on the same charge.
david.bruce@ypn.co.uk

Police chief: They put their lives on the line

BY DAVID BRUCE,
THE SENIOR West Yorkshire detective who masterminded the police operation that netted the gang of international drugs conspirators today praised the work of the team of undercover cops who brought about the gang's downfall.
Det Chief Supt Phil Revill-Johnson told the YEP: "Whilst I do not want to go into details of their work, I have to say that they are a special breed whose qualities include determination, raw guts and courage.
"They went into situations – not only in this country but abroad – not knowing what they were going to face. They have to think fast on their feet and adapt to changing circumstance while getting on with people – while leading a double life.They put their lives on the line."
Speaking immediately after the court decision and sentence, Det Chief Supt Revill-Johnson added: "I think the sentence is in line with those that other people who were involved in this conspiracy received. Redmond still has to face a financial confiscation hearing at which a financial penalty may be imposed. If he should fail to pay any figure imposed, he could receive an additional prison sentence on top of the one he has just received.
"This has been a very long investigation lasting some four-and-a-half years and everyone is very relieved it has come to a successful conclusion. There have been three extradition proceedings to get defendants to court all of which were contested.
"The court cases have all gone very well in terms of verdicts and the sentences imposed have been very even handed and reflect the offences committed," he added.
He said Redmond led "an exceptionally lavish lifestyle. He had a luxurious high security villa on the outskirts of Mijas in the Costa del Sol, he drove a Jaguar XK and a Mercedes and had all the usual trappings.
I am in no doubt that he was successful in importing drugs over a number of years."