Baggage handler accused of helping major drugs operation

Tuesday 19 March 2019

A baggage handler at Guernsey Airport has allegedly been caught helping to import 10 kilograms of cannabis resin - while he claims he was offered £5,000 to offload the drugs and take them to a drop off point elsewhere in the island.

Luke Blondel, 35, had been working at the airport as a baggage handler for 15 years, when he was arrested by customs officers on Saturday, after they searched a rucksack in the cab of his air-side vehicle and found it to be full of bars of cannabis resin.

At an approximate Guernsey street value of £30 per gram, that cannabis resin would be worth a total of £300,000. 

The border agency officers were suspicious after they had seen a bag leaving the island last Thursday on a flight to Manchester with cannabis inside. So when the two owners of the bag returned on the Saturday morning flight back from the city, the Guernsey Border Agency were prepared to search it.

But before it could even get to them they saw Mr Blondel get into the hold of the aircraft with out a bag, and leave with one, which he kept and put into his vehicle, while loading the rest of the luggage normally.

He was soon after approached, allegedly found with the cannabis, and arrested. The two people travelling with the bag were also taken into custody at the airport. They are currently on police bail, as forensic investigations continue.

Mr Blondel was charged with being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on importing cannabis, after appearing before the Magistrate's Court yesterday where he was granted bail, but only because a close friend of his offered a £7,500 security. He will appear again in four weeks time when the investigation into the other people has finished, and he'll then be asked to enter a plea.

Speaking on his behalf, Duty Advocate Andrew Ayres said Blondel had been offered £5,000 to pick up the drugs and transport them to a location on the island. Because he was so heavily in debt, he felt he needed to take the offer. He has not yet formally entered a plea to the charges though. 

Judge Gary Perry admitted it was unusual for bail to be granted in a case with so many drugs, but because of the circumstances surrounding the case and the security, he was willing to do so on this occasion. 

Mr Blondel will next appear in court on the 15 April. 

Pictured: Mr Blondel is a baggage handler at Guernsey Airport. 

Aurigny representatives were in court for the initial hearing yesterday, but later said; "it would be inappropriate for us to comment while the investigation is ongoing." 

Pictured top: File image of cannabis resin bars over Guernsey Airport.