Woman accused of sending ‘spice’ letters to jail had a bagful at home

A woman accused of helping an inmate smuggle ‘spice’ into jails was caught with blank legal letters impregnated with the synthetic drug at her home, a court heard.

Charlotte Finch, 21, is said to have used an Instagram account called ‘HMP_Mamba_Plug’ to offer drugs to inmates.

Alexander Mullings, 32, led the plot to smuggle heroin, crack, cannabis and designer drug U-47,000, known as ‘pink heroin’ into prisons including HMP Swaleside in Kent, jurors heard.

Drones were also used to fly small mobile phones into jails, Southwark Crown Court has heard eard.

He has admitted a series of charges including smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a number prisons, including Wormwood Scrubs, between 2016 and 2019.

Jurors have heard how smugglers took advantage of a rule prohibiting prison officers from opening legal letters addressed to inmates.

Finch was logged into the Instagram account when she was arrested on 31 January 2019.

One post read: ‘Hey, I’ve got 10/10 spice paper, it gets sent in the official rule 39 solicitors’ messages, if your guys interested or anyone else let me know and I’ll send as a tester.’

Police searched her home and found a Tesco bag containing blank legal letters impregnated with spice, a box of prepaid first-class envelopes, and a ‘private and confidential’ self-inking stamp.

A pair of yellow rubber gloves were found to contain traces of caffeine, paracetamol, and spice.

A face mask with a respirator, designed to protect the wearer from vapours given off while handling solvents was also found at Finch’s home, it was said.

A set of digital scales was also recovered from her address containing traces of U47,700, cocaine, heroin and paracetamol, jurors heard.

Mullings has admitted a series of charges including smuggling drugs and mobile phones into a number prisons between 2016 and 2019.

Finch, along with Mullings’ mother Alexandra Nicolaou, 52, Hamza Ahmed, 29, Ahmed Binfgih, 58, Katriye Kaplan, 32, and Danyaal Msaouri-Coulson, 22, deny drug supply charges.

Nicolaou, of Merton, south London, Ahmed, Binfgih and Msaouri-Coulson, both of Islington, north London, deny conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice and anabolic steroids into Swaleside prison between December 2016 and February 2017.

All four also deny conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle mobile phones into a number of prisons between June 2016 and March 2018.

Finch, of Crouch End, north London Nicolaou and Binfgih deny conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice into Swaleside prison between March and August 2017.

Nicolaou, Binfgih, Kaplan, of Waltham Cross, Herts, and Finch deny conspiring with Mullings and others to supply heroin between March 2017 and June 2017.

Nicolaou, Kaplan and Finch deny conspiring with Mullings and others to supply spice between March 2017 and June 2017.

Nicolaou, Ahmed and Finch deny conspiring with Mullings and others to smuggle spice into Swaleside prison, Wormwood Scrubs and other prisons between September 2017 and October 2019.

Finch alone denies conspiring with Mullings and others to supply heroin between March 2018 and October 2019.

Finch also denies two counts of conspiring to supply crack cocaine, two counts of supplying fentanyl and one count of conspiring to supply U-47700, between March 2018 and October 2019.

Nicolaou, Kaplan and Finch also deny one count of transferring the proceeds of crime.
Ahmed, Binfgih, Msaouri-Coulson, Kaplan and Finch all deny transmitting or causing to transmit text messages or images from jail between January 2016 and December 2019.

Nicolaou has admitted this offence, which relates to phone calls to and from her son.

The trial continues.