Police smash Heathrow gang

Scotland Yard today smashed a sophisticated crime network operating multi-million-pound drugs and theft rackets at Heathrow airport.

Fourteen people, including two women, were arrested in dawn raids by more than 200 police and customs investigators.

Among property seized were high-performance cars, including a Porsche and a Ferrari. A replica firearm was also recovered. The gang is one of several suspected of targeting Heathrow over many years in a massive criminal enterprise involving crooked employees working for aviation companies.

Three of those held today worked for airside aviation firms and had passed stringent securitychecks. The gang is suspected of using intelligence from employees to target high-value cargo arriving at the airport. The airport insiders also ran a lucrative drugs racket, removing cocaine packages from bags before they could be checked by the usual customs procedures.

Detectives suspect the gang had been operating for up to 10 years and had amassed huge profits which were siphoned into bank accounts and property overseas. All those held in raids on 17 addresses in west London and Surrey were believed to be loosely linked.

A source said: "The scale of the operation was huge. We have some employees who had minor jobs, but who were living fantastic lifestyles with sports cars and villas. There were some, and they weren't the big players, who were earning £10,000 a month."

Flying Squad detectives led today's raids, which were the culmination of a year-long initiative to target the gangs under the codename Operation Grafton.

In the first six months of this year, Grafton officers made 83 arrests and seized six guns. Three of those arrested were held in connection with an attempt to steal ?80 million worth of gold bullion and cash at Heathrow in May.

Seven men were charged after armed officers ambushed them trying to break into an airport warehouse. Four others were arrested for a ?4.5 million cash robbery from a secure airside site at the airport in 2002.

Three others were held on suspicion of trafficking cocaine.