The agent was dismissed from the UK National Crime Agency (Picture: Getty)
An anti-drugs officer working in Barbados has been sacked for gross misconduct after allegedly selling a ‘covert asset’ used to spy on drug traffickers.
An internal inquiry found they misused and sold a piece of surveillance equipment to a friend at a discounted price and ran up huge roaming bills on an agency mobile phone.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed the dismissal said it ‘expects the highest standards of conduct and integrity from all its officers.’
An inquiry found the agent’s behaviour ‘fell well short’ of what it expects from its operatives, a spokesperson said.
The exact nature of the intelligence-gathering assets involved in the deal have not been revealed.
The sacked officer was the NCA’s top official in the Eastern Caribbean and at the forefront of its fight against drug traffickers passing through local waters, the Mail reports.
The NCA is working to break up drug trafficking from Colombia and Venezuela to the UK, believed to be the two main sources of narcotics heading to the UK.
The official was based in the Caribbean and reportedly had an anti-drugs role (Picture: Getty)
An unnamed source familiar with the investigation told the Mail: they had ‘responsibility for nurturing and building relations with security officials’ and had to be ‘vetted to a high level’.
A spokesperson for the NCA said the agency ‘does not routinely confirm or deny the identity of officers subject to complaints or disciplinary hearings’.
‘However, the agency can confirm that, following an internal investigation, an officer has been dismissed for gross misconduct.
‘The offences related to the sale of agency property and the use of a phone provided by the agency. As soon as we were made aware of the allegations we acted.
‘The officer’s duties were restricted for the duration of the investigation and disciplinary process.
‘The agency expects the highest standards of conduct and integrity from all its officers. In this case the conduct fell well short and we have taken action.’
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A British anti-narcotics officer working in Barbados was dismissed after selling a ‘covert asset’ used to track drug traffickers.
