This is the dramatic moment a Polish cocaine importer was arrested at Luton Airport after police smashed a major drugs ring operating on an encrypted chat network.
Blazej Holub was placed in handcuffs when he got off a flight from Warsaw after police worked out his identity from EncroChat messages about a drugs shipment.
The 43-year-old Polish national who lived in Luton was known as 'Krissy' within the drugs ring, which had sold hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine.
Previously-unseen bodycam footage shared with the Daily Mail today shows his arrest, which is part of a new episode of Channel 4's 24 Hours In Police Custody.
Holub was later jailed for more than 16 years after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to avoid prohibition on the importation of cocaine.
The clip from the programme, airing at 9pm tonight, begins with Bedfordshire Police making a breakthrough in the hunt for a crime boss known as 'Uncle'.
A driver working for 'Krissy' was arrested with £250,000 worth of a cocaine, with intelligence and EncroChat messages revealing 'Krissy's' true identity as Holub.
Holub had travelled to mainland Europe via the Eurotunnel in July 2020, before police were given notice the following month that he was travelling from Poland to Luton.
Blazej Holub is told by police he is being arrested after arriving at Luton Airport in August 2020
Holub is placed in handcuffs after getting off a flight after police worked out his identity
Officers worked out Holub's identity from EncroChat messages about a drugs shipment
A detective tells the documentary: 'We knew he left country on July 18 and we expected him to return. Sure enough, we got an alert last night to say he'd booked a flight back from Warsaw to Luton, so we should hear shortly if he's on the flight.'
An officer at Luton is then told: 'Male in blue shirt walking to you.' Holub approaches him, and the officer tells him: 'Hello. Pop up your arms up for us. Good man.'
The man confirms to police that he is Holub, and is then told: 'I'm arresting you on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. So you do not have to say anything.
'But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Okay.'
Holub askes: 'So I am arrested, yes?' And the officer says: 'Yes. At least you get to beat the queues this way.' He is then taken out of an exit and into a police van.
Detectives identified Holub as well as Kamran Bashir, 37, Ibraz Iqbal, 26, and Krysztof Kozon, 42, by their usernames from Encrochat between January and June 2020.
One investigator tells the programme that Holub 'wasn't expecting it at all'', while another says: ''He must know that Iqbal, Bashir, they've already been remanded.
Holub is led through Luton Airport as an officer quips: 'At least you get to beat the queues'
Holub is put in a police van at Luton Airport before being taken away by officers for questioning
Holub was jailed for more than 16 years after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A drugs
'And yet he's still come back. I'm thinking the threats were worse where he was [in Poland] to where he's come to now.'
A search following Holub's arrest found he had a Rolex watch, cash, bank cards, an iPad and various phones including an encrypted device. He also had designer handbags, jewellery and cash seized from his home.
The wider investigation saw four members of the Luton gang including Holub jailed for a total of more than 50 years after £250,000 worth of drugs were seized, as well as £150,000 in cash.
Bashir was arrested at his workplace, where police found two Encrochat devices and 0.5kg of cocaine in his staff locker. Officers then found £130,000 when searching his car and home.
Iqbal was arrested on the same day as Bashir and £20,000 of cash was seized from a business premises he was using for deliveries of cocaine.
The Encrochat messages then revealed Iqbal’s supplier was Holub, who was importing wholesale quantities of cocaine into Britain.
Kozon worked as a driver and custodian for Holub. He was arrested in July 2020 and police who searched his car found two brown taped packages with black crosses marked on them, consistent with blocks of Class A drugs, plus four mobile phones.
When Kozon’s home was searched, police found a sports bag containing three more brown packages identical to the ones found in his car and a further five mobile phones, one of which was encrypted.
The five blocks of drugs were later estimated to have a combined street value of around £250,000.
Bashir was jailed at Luton Crown Court in July 2021 for a total of more than 16 years; Iqbal for more than 12 years; and Kozon for 11 years.
The Luton gang including Holub were imprisoned after £250,000 worth of drugs were seized
The Bedfordshire Police team investigating the gang in Luton also seized £150,000 in cash
It came months after law enforcement agencies across Europe hacked EncroChat - a communication system used by organised criminals trading in drugs and guns - in one of the biggest operations of its kind.
Thousands of officers from the National Crime Agency, regional crime squads and every police force in the UK were involved in the massive international sting in 2020.
After four years of work by international teams, French investigators managed to access Encrochat, a platform used by 60,000 people worldwide, including around 10,000 in the UK, for what law enforcement agencies claim were purely criminal purposes.
The company, which charged £1,500 for a device on a six-month contract, sent out a warning to users in June that year to say that its servers had been hacked by a government entity.
This left investigators with a race against time to make the most of the wealth of information available on the platform, targeting 'Mr and Mrs Bigs' before they could cover their tracks.
Detective Chief Superintendent Duncan Young said: 'Our long‑standing partnership of over a decade with 24 Hours in Police Custody gives the public a transparent view of the realities of modern policing.
'It shows the skill, determination and compassion our officers bring to every single case, and I'm proud of the professionalism on display throughout this episode.
'The harm caused by drugs is the common thread running through so much of the criminality we deal with. Drugs fuel violence, exploitation and fear in our communities, and remains one of our highest priorities.
'By exposing how these organised networks operate - and demonstrating the tireless work that goes into dismantling them - we hope the public will have a stronger understanding of both the scale of the threat and of our commitment to tackling it.'
The episode captures the early stages of Operation Costello against serious and organised crime which has achieved 279 arrests, 544 years in sentencing, 49 weapons seized and 10 firearms recovered since 2020.
Bedfordshire Police said drugs seized as part of the operation include 288kg of cannabis, 7,551 cannabis plants, 26kg of cocaine and 2.6kg of heroin.
'24 Hours in Police Custody: The Secret Network' is available to watch and stream on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm