Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175 Author: Rebecca Allison SMUGGLERS 'USED SKODA ON DRUGS' The Skoda has been an object of ridicule for years but when a group of drug smugglers chose to hide their illicit haul in one they discovered that the joke was on them, a court heard yesterday. The gang allegedly hired a Skoda to drive a fortune in drugs from the Czech Republic to Britain by hiding packets of heroin in the car's fuel tank. But by the journey's end the UKP 500,000 worth of drugs were soaked in diesel and "unsaleable", David Green QC, prosecuting, told Southwark crown court in London. The other gang members then spent days trying to decontaminate their haul by washing it in a potent alcoholic brew called raki in the bathroom of a safe house, he added. Fumes from the fuel were so strong that the callers were greeted from an upstairs window to "avert" suspicion. Mr Green said that the choice of hiding place had not only ruined the heroin, but also made the nearly new Skoda break down repeatedly. It was eventually towed to a council car pound and had to be returned to the Czech hire company by lorry. As a result, the two alleged couriers who had travelled in it had to catch a coach back to the Czech Republic. Undeterred by their misfortune, the gang allegedly rented another Skoda just days later, resorting to the fuel tank method once more. When customs men halted the vehicle at Dover, they recovered more than 18kg (40lbs) of heroin, most of it already ruined. Mr Green said that the 8kg of heroin retrieved during a raid on the gang's house, together with that recovered from the second smuggling run, had a total street value of UKP 1.65m. Erdinc Uchkach, 34, of Stoke Newington, north London; his alleged "lieutenant", Levant Comert, 36, of Highbury, north London, and the alleged couriers, Miroslav Pelzer, 41, and Jana Sauerova, 26, both from Ceske Budejovice, deny one count of smuggling heroin, while the alleged couriers, plead not guilty to a second similar charge. The trial continues. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew