A UPS worker dubbed “King” who paved the way for £10 million of cocaine to be smuggled into Britain has been jailed for 12 years.
Zak Archbold, 30, was the inside man at the UPS depot in Stanford-le-Hope in Essex as parcels containing class A drugs were shipped into the country from the Netherlands.
Southwark Crown Court heard Archbold used his role as a supervisor to ensure that the drug shipments came through undetected and went on to the right truck for collection by another member of the gang.
On Thursday, Judge Nathaniel Rudolf KC sentenced Archbold to 12 years in prison after he was convicted at trial of fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of class A drugs, with evidence showing the smuggling operation involved 290 kilos of cocaine.
Co-defendant Steven Bullen, 51, admitted playing his part in conspiracies to supply a total of 790 kilos of cocaine as well as separate plots to supply 242 kilos of MDMA and 114 kilos of amphetamine, directing operations from his villa in Spain.
He was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years and four months in prison.
Judge Rudolf said Archbold got involved in the drugs ring when he fell into debt, but then “enthusiastically played your part”.
He said Bullen had a leading role in the hierarchy of the drugs gang, where one of the designated drivers was known as the “B52 bomber”, secret compartments were used in cars for the transportation of illicit parcels, and hundreds of kilos of drugs worth tens of millions were sold.
The judge added: “Taking part in the way you both did in high-level criminality involving this amount of drugs is a pathway of risk and reward.
“The reward is financial, and the risk is prosecution and conviction.
“You both chose to walk that pathway and must face the consequences.”
Gemma Vincent, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Bullen was responsible for a “staggering volume of drugs” being smuggled into the UK, and it worked with the National Crime Agency and international law enforcement to secure his extradition to face justice.
“Zak Archbold abused his position while working for a reputable courier company and facilitated the importation of cocaine from Europe into the UK,” she added.
“Their convictions would not have been possible without the combined efforts of prosecutors in the UK, Spain and France, Spanish law enforcement teams, and the NCA.
“Going forward, we will seek to confiscate their ill-gotten gains and we hope these sentences serve as a deterrent to other would-be criminals.
“Drugs have a devastating and costly impact on society, and we will continue to work across borders to prosecute those who seek to flood our streets for their own gain.”
The illegal drugs supply operations were cracked when law enforcement agencies gained access in 2020 to the secure EncroChat messaging system, which was used by criminal gangs around the world to direct their operations.
The court heard a drugs gang paid about £2,000 for each kilo of cocaine shipped into the UK through Archbold’s UPS depot in Essex, with cocaine valued at £10 million brought through in the space of just five weeks in April and May 2020.
The drug smuggling gang used aliases including “Veggie Kray”, “Ghost” and “Cuddly Bandit” on EncroChat, when they believed their messages were secret, and Archbold was referred to as “King”.
They planned “dry run” packages to be sent to test out the new route through UPS, before then starting to send parcels of cocaine.
Archbold received £750 for every kilo of cocaine successfully shipped in, using his senior role at the Stanford-le-Hope depot to direct that drugs packages should go on to particular lorries.
Prosecutor Jenny Burgess said Archbold was directed by “Ghost”, and the messages showed he was “running the show” at the UPS depot.
The court heard drugs packages were all addressed to the same property in Upminster, Essex, with a plan for them to be intercepted and distributed around the UK.
The court has also heard that three other men accused of involvement in the drugs ring: Benjamin Thake, Craig Merrin and Jurre Faber; are still at large.
Archbold denied being “King” at trial, but was caught out by messages to a driver warning him that a sideline scheme stealing money from UPS customers was threatening to shine an unwelcome light on the drug smuggling operation.
Archbold, from Braintree, Essex, and Bullen, who was living in a villa in Marbella, appeared by videolink from prison to be sentenced.
The court heard that after Archbold was sacked by UPS in 2020, he went on to work as a scaffolder and for Amazon, and lost a franchise business he was building when he was arrested in April 2025.
Judge Rudolf accepted Archbold had been “naive” when he agreed to join the drugs importation scheme.
The judge imposed a serious crime prevention order on Bullen.
Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine, while Bullen also admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply MDMA, and conspiracy to produce amphetamine.
