Drug dealer jailed following international operation

A Bristol man who acted as the UK end of an international heroin smuggling gang has been jailed following an operation by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Dutch police.

Clive Stephen Hartry from Bristol was sentenced for 18 years for importing 74 kg of heroin during 2008 and 2009.

On August 3, 2009, Dutch national Helen Marie Bardoel drove a hire car from the Netherlands to Bristol.  Without her knowledge, Dutch police working with SOCA had intercepted the 14 kg of heroin hidden within the car before she arrived in Bristol.

Bardoel drove to the centre of Bristol. Apparently suspecting she was under surveillance, Bardoel abandoned the hire car, and took a taxi to Bristol airport where she caught a flight back to Amsterdam – where she was arrested by Dutch police.

Bardoel and her boyfriend, Tobias Maskikit, were sentenced in the Netherlands to seven and nine years respectively. A third man said to have been the organiser of the Dutch operation is awaiting trial in Holland.

The SOCA investigation showed that Bardoel had made regular journeys to the UK in cars rented from a wide range of locations in the Netherlands. Several of these were linked to Hartry through phone calls and his regular trips to the Netherlands which coincided significantly with Bardoel’s journeys.

Matt Horne, Regional Head of Investigation for SOCA, said: “This gang provided a regular supply of heroin to the streets of Bristol and the other parts of the UK, fuelling misery and harm. This operation clearly shows how our international partnerships benefit the UK at a local level when tackling drug dealing and its organised criminal elements.”