R v Harmes & ors (Reading)
Said to have involved one of the largest ongoing drug importations where multiple kilos of class 'A' drugs were being imported from South America on a weekly basis in the cargo hold of aircraft to which the co-defendant had access as an airport employee. Harmes was said to be the main organiser and was said to have been operating over a protracted period without detection. The police operation was heavily critisised by the defence and subsequently the Court of Appeal as being in breach of RIPA and the attached Codes of Practice. This was one of the first cases in which Special Counsel was instructed.