Walter Douglas
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Walter Douglas (born 1961) is an alleged Scottish drug trafficker and organised crime figure, dubbed the Tartan Pimpernel by the press, who is reportedly one of the richest in the United Kingdom with an estimated worth of £20 million.[1] He was allegedly wanted in at least three countries on drug trafficking and gun running charges as of 2003, and Douglas was reported to have had ties to numerous international criminal organisations in Europe and North America as the head of the Delta crime syndicate. But in fact nothing has ever been proved against Douglas. In October 2013 there were no longer any warrants out against him and he staunchly maintained his innocence to a British journalist
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Douglas was allegedly a former milkman and petty thief before it was reported that he became involved in drug trafficking and money laundering with the Delta crime syndicate during the 1980s and early 1990s earning millions smuggling cannabis into the United Kingdom from Morocco, Spain and the Netherlands.[2][3] An associate of Brian Doran, he was said to have used a plants and car exporting business as a front for his activities, it was reported. He was also questioned by police in the 1990 murder of Charlie Wilson, a member of the Great Train Robbery. He was cleared of any involvement after proving he was in Tenerife at the time. While many reports were carried in the Scottish press nothing was ever proven against him and he now lives in Thailand. He admitting known well known crime figures in Marbella but told a journalist it was difficult not to, but in fact he was a businessman and had interests in Dreamers nightclub in Marbella and Dreamers Beach Club in Koh Samui. International agencies confirmed at the same time that there were no outstanding warrants against him.
Walter Douglas, now living under the name Bobby Brown, but travelling happily under his real passport, insisted that the press had embellished and even made up his career as a narcotics trafficker. He cited reports in the Sunday Mail and Sunday People suggesting he was laughing at police stating that they were simply not true. He had never had any convictions as such.
Arrest in the Netherlands
In early 1994, he and his three partners were arrested by Dutch authorities after a freighter, the Britannia Gezel, was boarded by British customs officers who discovered over 18 tons of hashish on board. One of the largest narcotics investigations in the history of the Netherlands, which included the Dutch Interregionaal Recherche Team (IRT), the British Customs Service and the American Drug Enforcement Administration, the reported street value of the seized cannabis was estimated at £60 million.
Arrested by Dutch police at his farmhouse at Abcoude, he and his three alleged partners were tried at Utrecht High Court and accused of smuggling cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine. Douglas was also scheduled to be tried in Scotland, the Crown Office in Edinburgh filing for extradition only hours of his arrest. With testimony by agents from the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and the United States, the prosecution accused Douglas and the others of earning 100 million from drug trafficking operations during the last three years.[4] Douglas was eventually sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined 250,000[clarification needed] on 29 March 1994.[5]
His lawyer appealed the case claiming Dutch police used illegal phone taps to make the arrest and he was acquitted after serving six months in custody on remand and another three months while awaiting his appeal.