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Top :: Communities ::International:: Wales::
** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 20:56:34
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The mythology of Operation Julie
Last updated: 27 February 2007
Lyn Ebenezer from Pontrhydfendigaid is a
writer who became involved with the operation
through his work as a journalist. In February
2007 he recounted the effect of the operation
on locals living in the Tregaron and
Llanddewi Brefi area:
"The logistics speak for themselves: Six
million tabs of LSD were recovered by the
police, the largest haul of drugs ever known.
A squad of 800 detectives were involved. Some
120 people were arrested throughout the UK
and France. Stashes of LSD worth £100 million
were unearthed. Over £800,000 in money was
discovered hidden in Swiss bank accounts. And
17 defendants were jailed for a total of 170
years.
Those are merely the bare bones of Operation
Julie, a drugs bust that took years to
organise and an operation that has, thirty
years later, become a concoction of fact and
fantasy.
The statistics, even looked at today, are
staggering. But it wasn't the size of the
operation and the extensiveness of the drugs
ring (in fact there were two rings existing
side by side) that shocked the rural
population of mid Wales but rather the fact
that enough LSD to meet the needs of half the
world had been manufactured and marketed in
the sleepy hinterlands of Tregaron and
Carno.
The early 1970s saw an influx of flotsam and
jetsam from the cities to rural Wales. We
witnessed a mixture of hippies, yuppies and
those who had been attracted to what they
believed to be the good life.
Pop stars such as the Stones, Eric Clapton,
Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon - it is possible
that Bob Dylan could be included among them -
visited Llanddewi Brefi where an eccentric
pop music adherent had settled.
He boasted an invitation card to Hendrix's
funeral. Stuck on the card was a boiled sweet
injected with a tab of LSD. I know, I saw it
on his mantlepiece at his cottage, Cefn
Bedd.
Cannabis taking became a fact of life,
firstly among incomers. But it gradually
spread and even became ac accepted part of
rural life. But LSD was another matter.
It only happened in Sloane Square or in
Oxbridge. To the farmers of Tregaron, LSD
merely meant pre-decimalisation money,
pounds, shillings and pence, which some of
them still hoarded in milk churns hidden in
back parlours! Never trust a bank, especially
a Cardiganshire bank!
The first sign that something was up was the
arrival of strangers to Tregaron, strangers
that somehow did not fit the incomer image.
It was assumed, when they were seen at local
pubs, that they were bird watchers who had
come to view the Red Kite, a bird of prey
that was then unique to the Cambrian
Mountains and was enjoying a revival from
what had been almost extinction.
The strangers did not attempt to correct
these impressions. They tended to keep to
themselves and did not over-embellish their
answers to questions asked by curious
locals.
Then it was whispered that they were closet
gays who lived in London and were looking for
anonymity. They must have cottoned on. Soon
they were joined by two women.
The crew all lived in a farmhouse, Bronwydd a
few miles from the village. To avoid snooping
postmen they installed a post delivery box at
the head of the lane. But they were neither
bird watchers nor, as far as I know were they
closet gays.
Whether bent or straight (in either meaning),
they were all police officers, led by
Detective Chief Inspector Dick Lee.
One of the women officers' first name, that
of Police Sergeant Julie Taylor, was adopted
as the code name for the operation.
I became involved with the case completely by
accident. One of those being watched was
chemist Richard Kemp, who lived with his
partner Christine Bott some two miles out of
Tregaron at Penlleinau.
He commuted regularly between his home and
Plas Llysyn, a rambling old mansion in Carno
near Llanidloes, a distance of some 50 miles
away.
In April 1975 he was involved in a fatal
accident when his Land Rover, carrying a load
of tiles, hit a car near Machynlleth killing
a passenger in the car.
At the ensuing inquest I was covering for the
Western Mail. Later I learnt that Kemp's name
had rung a bell at operation headquarters and
the load of tiles was dismantled. Among the
tiles police found scraps of paper bearing
the chemical formula for LSD. This was the
vital information they were looking for.
On 26 March 1977, in Wales, England and
France, Operation Julie officers swooped and
arrested some 120 suspects. The case at
Bristol came to an end on 8 March 1978. Two
of the main players, however, had fled. Now,
30 years later they are still at large.
Following the arrests and trial, locals would
pretend that they knew all along of the
activities of both police and LSD
manufacturers and pushers.
This is now part of the legend. But even
before the arrests there were bizarre
occurrences. One local swore that some weeks
previous to the arrests he had been offered
thousands of pounds by a complete stranger
for looking after a holdall.
Believing the man to be an IRA activist, he
refused.
Meanwhile, two young men who had settled in
Llanddewi Brefi were the talk of the village.
Apparently they would ply locals with free
drinks and reputedly gave away Rolex watches.
They would also be seen lighting joints with
five-pound notes. One of them was a bit
player while the other was jailed for
distributing.
Yet today no-one in Llanddewi Brefi will have
a bad word to say against them. And they were
genuinely nice blokes. One of them, named
later as a dealer, went to Chester Races with
some of the locals. Running that day was a
horse called Cannabis. One of the bookies
called to his colleague: 'What price
Cannabis?' To which the dealer replied: 'Just
a fiver an ounce in Llanddewi Brefi!'
There were also accusations of a tip-off by
disgruntled officers. Rumour has it that
Princess Margaret was involved with one of
the main suspects and that the police
hierarchy delayed the swoop until she was
well out of the way.
Disgusted with such tactics, it is rumoured
that there were secret calls made to some of
the suspects warning them to make themselves
scarce.
After a suspect - the dealer - was arrested
at Llanddewi Brefi, nothing incriminating was
found at his home, even though it was known
locally that he kept wads of notes in a Corn
Flakes packet.
It is known that around midnight before the
morning of the arrest he received a telephone
call at one of the local pubs. He hurriedly
left through the back door. A few hours later
he was arrested. There are still rumours of
stashes of LSD and cash hidden on the
mountain above the village.
The LSD manufactured at Tregaron and Carno
was regarded as top quality. It is said that
some of it is still being sold.
Today, the members of the drugs ring are
largely regarded as likeable rogues who could
well be the natural heirs to that old crook
Twm Shôn Cati who lived in Tregaron during
the sixteenth century by existing on his
wits.
They are also described as idealists,
disciples of Timothy Leary whose only desire
was to turn on the world. But it is worth
noting that the motive behind almost all the
protagonists' involvement was financial gain
rather than idealism.
Apologists point out that they did not kill
anyone. But questions should be asked
regarding the death caused by Kemp's
accident. Was it an accident? Kemp and Bott
were involved in at least four car accidents
during the time of Operation Julie. Could
they themselves have unknowingly been
affected by the LSD they were producing?
Thirty years have now gone by. All who were
convicted have served their time. Some have
rejoined society and are following their
previous careers. But there are still
unanswered questions as far as Operation
Julie is concerned. And around Tregaron,
Llanddewi Brefi and Carno, the story of the
strangers and the druggies still lives on.
Although it is by now more legend than
story."
Article by Lyn Ebenezer
wow!! this is only down the road from me...am
watchn a show on tv bout it now
llanddewi breffi is wer 'daffydd' from little
britain is supozd 2 be from...
makes me proud 2 be welsh!! lol
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:06:15
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lol!!
i never knew of that ^^ till now kels...i was
only 4!!
this bit got me....
"There are still rumours of
stashes of LSD and cash hidden on the
mountain above the village."
wow!! i need a dog + a metal detector!!
fancy comin campin?? lol
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:16:41
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Operation Julie was a UK police operation
investigating the production of LSD in the
1970s. It resulted in the break-up of one of
the largest LSD manufacturing operations in
the world at that time. Much of the drug was
produced in rural Wales. Chemist Richard
Kemp, a graduate of Saint Andrew's
University, was behind the operation, which
allegedly involved a plan to put several
million doses of LSD into a reservoir.
omg!!! we'l go swimmin + diving while we'r
ther!!!
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:22:14
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ul need it smila 
here's the link 2 watch the documentary if
any1's interested......
[censored]bbc[censored]wales/mid/sites/tregar
on/pages/film.shtml
was cool...more so 4 me..coz its my
area..(+fav subject)
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
madoc
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:29:41
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nice pic i like number 2 the best natural and
pretty.
who on earth is julie and what operation did
she have anyway?. |
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:34:20
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lol!! thanx madoc!!
watch the vid + see!! it was named after 1
of the undercover officers
loads of the money + stash is still
missin..........
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
madoc
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:42:03
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moneys the best aphrodisiac i know.
well that and a shed full of gin
i prefer to watch mysteries like, how can
anyone possesing half a brain watch drivel
and misserable drivel it is east enders.
by the way make number 2 one |
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Re: ** OPERATION JULIE ** |
gaerwitch
Date:
2007-07-19
Time: 21:48:42
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wot u on bout ulster ffs???
as if!!
its about a secret stash jake...a hidden
treasure
smila...get u + ur metal detector + dog down
here!!! lol
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