Forty years ago, “the rubber-faced man” was caught in rural west Wales.
Their mistake was believing that in a remote place it would not attract local curiosity.
Operation Seal Bay in 1983 broke up an international drug ring after discovering a secret bunker.
The ringleaders were Robin Boswell and a Danish actor, Soeren Berg-Arnbak.
Until then, the Dane had been on the run for 11 years.
Known as a master of disguise, Berg-Arnbak was one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers.
His arrest was possible thanks to information from farmers and fishermen about unusual activity they detected in the bay.
In 1983, the 35-year-old was living a millionaire lifestyle with luxury yachts and villas in Italy and Switzerland.
But in his escape he ended up moving to the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire.
Don Evans was Detective Chief Inspector at Dyfed-Powys Police, co-ordinating Operation Seal Bay, the code name given to the investigation, with Detective Superintendent Derek Davies.
More than 40 years later, Evans spoke to the BBC and said that the band’s downfall was due to the curious nature of the people of the coastal town of Newport, in Pembrokeshire.
“These criminals completely underestimated the local people and how observant they were”said.
“In total we took 540 statements from people who live in the area.”
Connecting the dots
Sue Warner and her parents, who lived on a farm overlooking the coast near Newport, reported suspicious activity near the bay to police.
The first time drug dealers attracted attention was by spending large amounts of money at a local bar.
“There were guys who stayed in luxury hotels in the area and spent large amounts of money,” Warner said.
“They paid for drinks with £50 notes and had a lot of parties. There was a lot of money and big, expensive cars. People started connecting the dots.”
“Then, one night, my dad decided to camp at the top of the cliff with the neighbors. They found two men sleeping near the place where the drug traffickers planned to keep the drugs and from there everything began to come to light,” he added.
Lobstermen also spotted unusual activity in the bay and informed the Newport Coastal Rescue Team.
They feared that the people on the beach might be poachers.
Members of the drug gang told the ship’s crew that they were training for an expedition to Greenland to film whales and seals.
A hollow sound and a bunker
But the crew did not believe them and reported back to Dyfed-Powys police officers.
The researchers then decided to search the bay with the help of a farmer.
During that search, it was he who picked up a stone and threw it into a cave.
As it fell, it hit the ground and made a hollow sound.
The police cleared the ground of pebbles and rocks and discovered a hatch that led to an underground bunker.
Don Evans couldn’t believe what they had found.
“It obviously took a long time to build. It was propped up with wooden sticks and completely coated with fiberglass resin,” he said.
“It probably took years to excavate the sand and rock and build it. They probably brought all the materials by boat.”
Police discovered nearly $100,000 worth of equipment, including powerful outboard motors, large RIB boats and construction equipment.
Arms trafficking?
At first officers thought the bunker was linked to the IRA and arms dealing.
But months earlier, a large bale of cannabis resin had washed up on Newport beach.
Therefore, the police began to think that this drug was related to the bunker.
The Operation Seal Bay team believed the waterproof bunker could store nearly $8 million worth of drugs.
Working alongside boss Berg-Arnbak was Robin Boswell, from London, who was described as the brains of the gang.
Police caught Boswell after two young children and their mother saw a stranger matching his description.
“Robin Boswell was arrested. He was a mystery man who gave us 17 false names and addresses. He clearly had no good intentions,” said retired Detective Evans.
“After Boswell was arrested, we knew he wasn’t going to tell us anything. But there was something that caught our attention: he was wearing hiking boots with flecks of fiberglass resin.”
“We thought that was what we needed to link it to the bunker in the cave.”
Berg-Arnbak was also arrested the following day after being seen by police officers patrolling near Fishguard.
When he saw the police, he dropped his backpack and fled through the fields.
He jumped over a hedge and barbed wire fence, not realizing there was a 21 meter drop into a quarry on the other side.
He only survived by grabbing onto the root of an overhanging tree to break his fall and was stopped at the bottom of the old quarry. This ended his 11-year escape.
The final track
Police seized his backpack, which contained a high-powered radio that was being used as part of the large drug smuggling operation.
The officers then had a hunch and installed the radio on top of a cliff that night.
After hours of waiting, they finally heard a communication.
“The radio came to life and we heard, ‘Mother, mother. I want to go in and get the dirt off my hands,'” Evans said.
That communication was enough.
“We knew there was a ship in the bay that wanted to come in to unload the drugs it had on board.”
Police officers said they never thought Operation Seal Bay would extend this far.
“It was a global operation. From the findings on the beach, the investigation spread from Newport to London, France, Spain and the Scandinavian countries,” said former sergeant John Daniels.
“It was clear that we had caught the main drug trafficking group operating at that time.”
“We didn’t get to the yacht but it’s like the classic case of a murder that is solved without a body.”
“It was incredible that the smallest police force in the country caught the largest drug gang at the time.”
The Operation Seal Bay team tracked money Boswell had been depositing in a bank on the Isle of Man.
“In December 1982, Boswell took two suitcases to a bank on the Isle of Man and deposited almost $1 million in notes,” Evans recalled.
“We asked the bank manager why he didn’t think to report it to the authorities. His face turned red and he said, ‘Mr. Evans, it’s not unusual for people to come in with a shopping bag that has $50,000 in cash.'”
Praise to the population
Police also seized cars worth $127,000 in 1983, including a Ferrari, a Range Rover and a Rolls-Royce.
Berg-Arnbak was sentenced to eight years and Boswell to 10 years in prison.
Six other members of the gang were also jailed.
The trial judge praised the police and the people of Newport for bringing drug dealers to justice.
And the prosecutor’s office praised the town’s residents: “These criminal schemes came to light thanks to the neighborliness or meddling of local peopleto their interest and curiosity shown by decent people”.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/crge772r78go, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-10-22 13:10:06
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