Organized crime boss extradited from Thailand jailed after five-year manhunt by NCA
An organized crime boss who has been on the run since 2018 has been jailed after being extradited from Thailand to the UK.
Richard Wakeling, 55, from Brentwood, Essex, arrived back in the country on Thursday evening and appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday afternoon, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said, adding that he was sentenced to 11 years in prison immediately after his conviction became his absence.
The NCA said Wakeling was found guilty of attempting to import £8million worth of amphetamine suspended in liquid in 2016 but fled the UK on the eve of his trial in 2018.
He was escorted back to Heathrow by special officers from the Joint International Crime Center’s delivery unit.
The NCA said officers from the Royal Thai Police arrested Wakeling at a garage in Bangkok in February 2023 when he went to collect his car after it was being repaired.
At the time of his arrest he was in possession of a passport with a different identity.
The NCA began its investigation into Wakeling’s organized crime group after Border Patrol agents stopped a truck boarding a Channel Tunnel train on April 9, 2016.
The truck contained plastic drums with the drugs.
The driver was transporting furniture from Italy but stopped in Ternat, Belgium, where phone calls indicated he was ordered to collect the drugs.
The NCA said all the importation was organized by Wakeling, who was in contact with drug suppliers in the Netherlands and worked with two other UK offenders to arrange the trip.
Officials proved that the crime group organized six other imports before the seizure in 2016.
After Wakeling fled in 2018, the NCA sought help in locating him.
Jacque Beer, NCA Regional Chief of Investigations, said: “Richard Wakeling believed he could avoid prosecution by leaving the UK.
“The hard work of NCA officials – both here in the UK and abroad – and that of our international partners has brought him to a long prison sentence behind bars.
“This case underscores the global reach of the NCA and that we will do everything we can to ensure those who commit serious and organized crime are held accountable for their actions, no matter how long it takes or how far they flee.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/richard-wakeling-essex-thailand-crime-nca-b1085372.html Organized crime boss extradited from Thailand jailed after five-year manhunt by NCA
