Chapter 6: A Lethal Injection

Because of the cameras, they were able to keep watch without the cars being near enough to be seen and spotted. As the day wore on into evening, one car caught a few hours’ sleep, whilst the other kept watch on the cameras. They had a folding bicycle in the boot so every hour or so, one of them cycled past the yard for a closer look to make sure they weren’t missing any movement.

It wasn’t until two am that movement on the camera was detected. Both cars immediately went onto full alert. A Volvo estate pulled into the yard and parked near the trailer. The man that got out went over to the office block, let himself in, then all the yard lights came on. As he returned towards the trailer he was seen clearly by the cameras and identified as the owner of the yard. Reg had gone over in the direction of the yard fence as soon as they were alerted. He worked his way round out of sight to the gates.

He watched as the man opened up the back of the trailer and disappeared inside. Watching from the cars the others saw him on the inside camera as he went straight to the hiding place and removed the drugs.

Once he had gone inside the trailer, Reg had run into the yard and made his way round out of sight until he could reach the car the man had arrived in. He attached a tracer under the back end, then ducked back behind the other vehicles to make his way back towards the gate.

He couldn’t dash across to the gate without risking being seen if the man came out of the trailer, so he waited patiently. A few seconds later the man came out, then closed up the trailer. After putting something in the boot of his car, he headed for the office to switch off the lights. As soon as he disappeared inside Reg raced out of the gates and threw himself under nearby bushes.

He was no sooner out of sight when the man came out, got in his car, drove out, then after locking the gates up, he drove off. As soon as he was out of sight, Reg headed back to the car. ‘Well done,’ he was told, ‘We’re picking up the trace.’ The other car had already left to follow. As soon as Reg was aboard, they set off after them.

The car eventually pulled into the drive of a small, detached house two miles away. The car was left out on the drive, but the package was taken into the house. The lights stayed on inside for a couple of hours then darkness.

The team kept watch until morning, then at nine o’clock a man arrived, went inside and ten minutes later came out and returned to his car. One of the watching cars followed, pulled him up, found a large quantity of heroin on him so he was arrested. A local van was called to remove their prisoner. Before it arrived, another caller had arrived at the house, leaving ten minutes later.

The car with the prisoner in followed him, pulled him over and searched both him and the vehicle. He had a similar amount of heroin on him. He too was arrested, then a local police van arrived and took both prisoners away. Suspecting this was likely to continue every half hour, Brian worked out that from the quantity of heroin reported on board the trailer, there could be ten dealers calling during the day.

It was clear that the owner of the house they were watching was supplying the heroin, so he could be dealt with later. Brian decided to carry on watching and nabbing the smaller dealers, so for the next nine hours they watched people arrive, then each car in turn followed them, pulled them up and arrested them. A local car was called in to help and two prison vans did a shuttle to take their prisoners to several of the nearest police stations.

When three quarters of an hour had passed after the tenth visitor, Brian decided that all the heroin had been distributed. Other members of the squad had been called from the base station to start interviewing the ten dealers arrested. The owner of the house they were watching was listed as the owner of the transport firm whose lorry had brought in the drugs.

So, Brian had applied for a warrant for the house they had been watching and the transport firm. He and Aiden stopped to watch the house whilst the others who had been there from the beginning were sent off duty for some rest. Two local search teams were standing by to search both premises on Brian’s command. When there had been no sign of movement from the house after an hour, Brian contacted the head of the team waiting by the transport depot. ‘Go in now,’ he told them, ‘Stop anything, especially communications in or out, but get whoever is in charge to ring the boss. Tell him the police are raiding the yard and he is needed there right away, then carry on with your search.’

Fifteen minutes later a male figure was seen to leave the house with a suitcase, throw it into the car and drive away.

Brian and Aiden followed him for a mile then pulled him over. They checked his identity to see that he was actually the owner of the house and the transport yard. His driving licence and passport confirmed him to be Garry Smith who was listed as owner. He was clearly the man they had seen on their secret cameras at the yard and when told he was being arrested for drug running and supply, he laughed, admitted he was Garry Smith and happy that he had passed all the drugs on, said, ‘You have no evidence.’ A quick search of his suitcase revealed it packed with cash.

He was told to sit in the back of his own car and turn out his pockets. When he said, ‘That’s everything,’ Brian leaned in as if to pick something up to look at, but instead stuck a needle in his arm. As he passed out, Brian helped him fall onto the floor in between the seats. A blanket was thrown over him, then Aiden jumped into the driving seat to take him over to the garages.

Brian picked up all his papers and keys, then as Aiden drove away, Brian got back into his car. He had just settled in when he got a call to tell him that a lady had just arrived at the house by taxi, carrying a suitcase. He drove back to the house, pulled straight into the drive, then he called the other search team to join him.

He waited two minutes, then got out and knocked on the front door. As a lady was opening the door, two police vans pulled into the drive. Brian introduced himself, told her why he was there and as he stepped inside, he was followed by the search team. As they dispersed about the house, Brian asked her which room was her husband’s office. Then he sent her to sit in the kitchen with a WPC.

A suitcase was standing in the hall, so he opened it. It was full of female clothes and some toiletries. He fastened it up again leaving it where it was.

Going upstairs and searching the office he soon discovered a safe built into the wall and hidden behind a picture which seemed to be screwed to the wall. Brian found a hidden catch on the top which opened the picture on a hinge like a cupboard door, then with the keys he had confiscated, he opened the safe door that the picture had hidden. Although the door wasn’t that big, the safe behind was large and packed with cash.

Brian two thirds filled a bin bag, tied the top of it, then put it inside another bag for strength. He locked the safe up again before putting the picture back. Going out with the bag, he met one of the local bobbies. ‘Can you find me a couple more chairs and put them in there please,’ he asked. Then he went downstairs, put the bag in his boot, returned to the kitchen and asked the WPC and Mrs Smith to come upstairs with him.

Once they were all seated in the office, Brian explained that her husband had been importing drugs and dealing in their supply. ‘On what evidence?’ she asked. ‘We have watched all the dealers arriving here all day,’ Brian told her. ‘Every time one left, we arrested him and found a large quantity of drugs on each one. We have all ten in custody.’ Mrs Smith looked very shocked, ‘Are you sure?’ she said. ‘Absolutely,’ Brian told her. ‘I don’t want to believe it,’ she told him, ‘But I only got back ten minutes ago from visiting my sister. Now I think about it, it was really Garry’s idea that I go and stay with her for a couple of days.’