UK Police smash global Crack network that had operational presence on Sint Maarten.

 Fourteen jailed as police smash global crack cocaine network

· Up to 27 years for 'Bling Bling Gang' members

· Vulnerable single mothers were used as couriers

Rosie Cowan, crime correspondent

Tuesday 28 February 2006 00.11 GMT

Even though this network was taken down in 2006, operations like it is still ongoing. Of note is the fact that the network frequently used French Sint Maarten as a base for its operations. Another noteworthy factor in this case is the name of the network i.e. Bling Bling. The name references the gangs ostentatious lifestyle. While the people being called Bling Bling presently on Sint Maarten, were never flashy, or ostentatious in their dress. The real Bling Bling on Sint Maarten, the original Bling Bling crew on Sint Maarten was manifested in one “Moondoggie”, the designer label loving ostentatious, flashy dresser, who had strong ties to St Thomas, New York and Miami based people. Because of an affiliation with this individual person’s on Sint Maarten began to be called the “Bling-Bling crew”. Again I see a lot of report’s in the Dutch media pertinent to the Bling-Bling on Sint Maarten that is patently false, Omar Jones (deceased) for instance never was affiliated with the Bling-Bling of Sint Maarten, nor was a flashy, nor did he wear jewelry et al. However his deceased brother was affiliated with one “Moondoggie”, resultantly by way of association the name stuck. Again to the Dutch media and local Bloggers get your facts straight!      

Fourteen UK-based members of a huge global crack cocaine network - dubbed the Bling Bling Gang because of their luxurious lifestyles and love of designer labels - were jailed for between five and 27 years yesterday.

Police believe the gang of mostly illegal immigrants, some of whom are wanted for serious crimes overseas, smuggled at least £50m-worth of cocaine into Britain over two years. They then converted it into lucrative and highly addictive crack with a street value of £3m a week and supplied it to dealers throughout the country.

Part of a sophisticated international syndicate with branches in London, Paris, New York and the Caribbean, they targeted vulnerable single mothers and addicts to act as "mules" - drug couriers. Gang members would get them hooked on free cocaine and threaten to harm their families if they refused to cooperate.

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They then exploited virtually non-existent border controls to fly the couriers from the tiny Caribbean island of St Martin, divided between French and Dutch authorities, to Paris and Amsterdam. From there they travelled on to the UK by plane, ferry, bus and train, often arriving at Waterloo Eurostar terminal or Victoria coach station, where they were met by gang members.

There would be three mules for each trip - unaware of each other - the organisers reckoning they could afford to "lose" one to the authorities, as long as the other two got through. High-purity cocaine, in liquid or paste form, was hidden in professionally re-sealed rum bottles, book spines and cosmetics, shampoo and perfume containers.

Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said the gang were the top tier of one of the most significant organized crime networks British police had ever smashed.

Detective Sergeant Adrian Hodgetts, the senior investigating officer, said the gang was run by "highly organised" and "ruthless" individuals who preyed on the most vulnerable through greed.

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"You, and others like you, are a scourge upon decent, civilised society," said Judge Timothy King, sentencing 10 gang members at Snaresbrook crown court in London. "You bear a heavy responsibility for the despair and ruination that you visit upon others." Judge William Kennedy dealt with four others at a separate hearing in the same court.

The gang rented and furnished a house in East Ham, east London. Nobody lived there, but gang members would visit once a fortnight to cook up crack by adding hydrochloric acid and bicarbonate of soda to the raw cocaine. When police raided the house, officers found nine kilos of the drug, worth £1m, in flat slices resembling pizza bases, lying on kitchen work surfaces.

Two key gang members are wanted by foreign police.

Ian "Bowfoot" Dundas-Jones, 35, jailed for 27 years yesterday, broke out of prison in Guadeloupe, where he is wanted for drug trafficking. He was the UK gang's "managing director", overseeing the multiple drug runs, crack manufacture and transfer of funds abroad.

Bernard "Kofi" Clarke, 31, who got an 18-year sentence, escaped from a Guyanese jail, where he stabbed a prison officer.

Clarke and his lover, Lisa "Sister" Bennett, 39, who also got 18 years' jail, cooked up the crack in the dingy East Ham house, a far cry from their plush home in Romford, Essex.

They spent a fortune on showy furniture such as white leather sofas, designer clothes from Prada and Versace, Cartier and Rolex watches, and fabulous diamond jewellery. They spent £70,000 on jewellery in one spree, £50,000 on clothes, and £15,000 for a fitted kitchen, all paid in cash. They were arrested after police spotted them carrying plastic carrier bags stuffed with crack.

Another ringleader, Clyde "Cruel" Benjamin, 30, a "salesman and overseer" for the gang who had overstayed illegally in the UK for nine years, was sentenced to 12 years in jail by Judge William Kennedy at the second hearing.

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Most of the gang are of French Guyanese descent, and much of the money went towards luxury villas and land in the Caribbean. Drug mules would take suitcases full of cash back to the Caribbean - often $100,000 (£57,000) at a time - or money would be transferred electronically. One transaction involved £1m sent from London to Paris.

Scotland Yard launched Operation Bella Vista after French police arrested 16 couriers on their way to London from St Martin. Links were soon traced to the gang leaders, and by June 2004 most of the ringleaders had been arrested.

Also jailed at Snaresbrook yesterday were Dundas-Jones's wife, Sandra, 44, who got 10 years for her role as travel booker and organiser, and Segun Fisher, 29, who got 14 years. Fisher, a DHL delivery driver, deceived his employers by intercepting parcels of drugs for false London addresses, removing the drugs and returning the empty packages to the DHL office, saying the addresses did not exist.

A further 25 people have been convicted in France, 11 in the Caribbean, and 10 in the US. Sherman Bob, the New York boss, got 30 years.