CHARMED LIFE OF SMUGGLER WHO GOT AWAY

BRIAN CHARRINGTON (left), car dealer, police informant and convicted drug
smuggler, could be said to have have enjoyed a remarkably charmed life.

As he sits in the sun, in the surroundings of his luxurious Spanish seaside
villa, he can reflect on the fact that he has faced allegations in two of
the biggest drugs cases in British criminal history, after investigations
by police and Customs which have cost British taxpapers tens of millions of
pounds. Yet he has no drugs convictions in Britain.

In the first case, in 1993, brought by Customs after investigations into
some of the largest cocaine smuggling activities seen in Britain, the
charges against him were dropped after it was disclosed that he had been a
police informant. One seizure of cocaine had totalled pounds 150 million.

In the second case, which crashed yesterday at Bristol Crown Court amid
criticism of Customs, he was alleged to be the mastermind behind a massive
amount of cannabis on a yacht, Simon de Danser, boarded by Customs and the
Special Boat Squadron, in international waters off the coast of Spain.

The collapse of the case, however, forced the Crown Prosecution Service to
announce that it would no longer seek Charrington's extradition from Spain
over the Simon de Danser.

In Spain Charrington, 41, is on pounds 100,000 bail facing drug charges
unrelated to the yacht. A father of two teenage children, he was arrested
in May 1997 at his villa near Calpe, on the south-east coast, after an
Anglo- Spanish operation.

He was accused by the investigating magistrate of being involved in drug
runs from Spain. The amount and exactly what role Charrington played has
not been revealed. The case was referred to the National Criminal Court in
Madrid and he was bailed after six months on remand. He has to report three
times a week to the authorities in Calpe. No date has been set for his
trial and he lives in his villa. British police, including the Cleveland
force, where he was an informant, remain ready to help the Spanish.

Charrington has been convicted in his absence in France of involvement in
cannabis after a yacht was seized by the French in 1995. So far, there
seems to have been no move by the French to enforce the conviction.

The 1993 case spurred two inquiries into Charrington's links with police -
one an investigation by Thames Valley police, supervised by the Police
Complaints Authority. It has been decided that no criminal or disciplinary
proceedings will be taken against any police officers.