Drugs bust arrest

Detective Inspector Mark Ling said what police in Montpellier told him led to a "significant" break-through in Bexhill. He said a serious drugs-traffiking operation had been infiltrated.

"We had some intelligence come in here to the CID office that someone was possibly going to be in Bexhill and was wanted in connection with the attempted importation of 100 kilos of cannabis resin. This intelligence came from police in Montpellier in France.

"The French police in Montpellier have seized 100 kilos of cannabis resin - which was destined for Bexhill. So, in conjunction with our counterparts in Montpellier, we mounted a local operation, the details of which I can't reveal at the present but sufficient to say that we arrested a man in Bexhill in connection with the attempted importation of illegal drugs into the United Kingdom."

Because of on-going Sussex Police drugs squad inquiries, Detective Inspector Ling was unable to reveal where in Bexhill the arrest was made except that it was made by local uniformed officers.

"The man arrested turned out to be a 59-year-old UK national, not from Bexhill, who is an escapee from a UK prison. He was sentenced to 12 years for importation of drugs in 1987 but has been on the run since 1991."

The cannabis resin seized in France has a street value of about 150,000. In volume, it would have filled a large car.

Detective Inspector Ling said: "The man has been sent back to prison as an escapee - it is what is called 'technical bail' - because there are further local inquiries we need to do.

"To say that this is a significant arrest is a bit of an understatement. Not only have we arrested him, we have infiltrated and frustrated a serious drugs-trafficking operation into this country."