'No explanation' for how retired UN worker became involved in £2.5 million drugs plot

The descent of a retired United Nations worker into crime was revealed when police raided a 'high-end' waterfront apartment. Paul Elson had worked as a contractor for the international organisation for 28 years, before retiring aged 58.

His lawyer said there was 'no explanation' as to why Elson would become involved in a huge drugs plot at his age, the Liverpool Echo reported. But police uncovered his involvement in a £2.5 million drugs plot after observing him and another man carrying boxes into a waterfront apartment in Liverpool.

Elson and Stephen Cahill had been seen carrying cardboard boxes filled with illicit substances into the complex moments before officers struck. Liverpool Crown Court heard last week that the latter was observed by police arriving at Waterloo Warehouse - a former dock building on the northern edge of Liverpool city centre which has been converted into "high-end flats" - arriving as a passenger in a Mercedes car on September 19 while carrying the bag in question.

READ MORE: An oasis for the rich and a playground for fugitives - why criminals are flocking to Dubai

The 37-year-old, of Lunt Road in Bootle, then entered the apartment block before leaving with another man around an hour and 15 minutes later with the bag still in his possession. Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, described how, a short time later, he was seen to approach the passenger side of a Jaguar S-Type on nearby Vulcan Street. This vehicle was subsequently later located on Eskburn Road in Tuebrook with a man called Dean Sutton standing beside it.

The JD Sports bag was then located in the passenger footwell of the car. It was found to contain 2kg of heroin and 1kg of cocaine, drugs with a street value of around £200,000.

On