LONDON (AFP) – A British drugs kingpin has been extradited home from Thailand to serve a lengthy jail term after spending years on the run, United Kingdom (UK) police said yesterday.
Richard Wakeling, 55, fled Britain in 2018 after he attempted with Dutch accomplices to smuggle GBP8 million (USD10 million) of liquid amphetamine from Belgium into the UK in 2016.
He was sentenced in absentia to 11 years and placed on the “most wanted” watch list of the British National Crime Agency (NCA).
He had been living in the Thai seaside resort town of Hua Hin for years with a fake Irish passport, according to Thailand’s police force, which arrested him in Bangkok in February.
He was escorted back to London by specialist UK extradition officers on Thursday and immediately jailed after a brief court appearance, according to the NCA.
