WIREDGOV

An Albanian man in possession of false Italian identification documents has been charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs, after an estimated £250,000 of cash and cocaine with a potential street value of £4.9m was recovered at an address in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.

Mark Gorini, 25, was arrested at a petrol station on High Road, Buckhurst Hill on Wednesday 27 September by officers from the joint National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police Service Organised Crime Partnership (OCP).

A search of the car he was driving revealed two one-kilo blocks of cocaine concealed in the boot.

When officers later searched the property linked to Gorini in Queens Road, they recovered another 47 kilograms of cocaine, a cash counting machine and paraphernalia linked to the large onward supply of class A drugs.

Gorini was also charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of false documents, money laundering and driving with no insurance. He has been remanded in custody until his next hearing. 

Spencer Barnett from the Organised Crime Partnership said:

“Drug trafficking is a business which relies on cash flow. If any business loses an expensive commodity in the middle of a transaction, that cash flow stalls on both sides. This creates a lack of trust between crime groups, making it harder for them to do business together in future.

“We believe this large seizure of cash and cocaine has deprived a criminal organisation of substantial operating funds and disrupted their criminal activities in and around London. Using all the means at our disposal, our efforts to disrupt organised crime in London and across the UK will not stop”.