A FORMER VAT inspector has been unveiled as part of a secretive team of brave Brits who masterminded the seizure of a record £2.3billion worth of drugs.

The “British equivalent” of hit drug cartel drama Narcos is revealed in a new book which lifts the lid on the perilous action taken to tackle major Colombian and Peruvian drug cartels in the 1990s.

10 In Bogota, Colombia, a Colombian Army helicopter patrols the area, back in 1993 Credit: AFP - Getty

In his book “Narco Wars”, author Tom Chandler – not his real name – describes how he arrived in Bogota, Colombia, at the height of the cocaine boom.

An HM Customs investigator fluent in Spanish, who had worked as a VAT inspector in Birmingham and was hungry for adventure, he leapt at the chance to become a drugs liaison officer in 1994.

The notoriously violent and ruthless drug lord Pablo Escobar was dead, but the Cali Cartel had taken over most of the global supply, and an avalanche of coke was about to hit Europe.

The British government wanted Chandler and his team to do the impossible: infiltrate the most powerful crime syndicates on earth and stop their drug shipments.

10 Colombian Army General Mario Montoya with cocaine confiscated by troops Credit: Reuters

In an interview with The Mirror, Chandler, now in his 60s, said: “We were the British equivalent of Narcos.”

He added that while everyone is aware of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “doing their stuff in Colombia” and boasting of their successes, “we never claimed a single result.

“No one even knew the Brits were there, because we didn’t want them to. We weren’t egoists.

“Our idea was to let others take the credit and keep our heads down. The DEA were looking for glory. This is the first time the British story has been told.”

Chandler, who grew up in Seaham, Co Durham, was sent on a perilous assignment.

According to publicity on his book: “The cartel bosses operated like a lethal multi-national organisation, with armies of hitmen and myriad spies in ports, airports, police stations and government offices.

10 'Tom Chandler' - not his real name, has released a book

“Their intelligence systems flushed out turncoats and traitors, and they ruthlessly exterminated their enemies.

“Yet Chandler, an HM Customs investigator fluent in Spanish, knew he could only succeed by recruiting local informants, and went out into the field to find them.”

Among those informants was a prostitute who provided details to Chandler while they were together.

Within four years he had a network of 50 agents buried deep inside the trafficking organisations.

And the result was “unprecedented”, says the publicity.

10 The late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, who was held at the Envigado Prison but escaped on July 22, 1992 Credit: AFP

10 Colombian police and military forces storm the rooftop where drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot dead just moments earlier during an exchange of gunfire between security forces and Escobar and his bodyguard December 2, 1993 Credit: AFP - Getty

“Their intel led to the arrest of hundreds of narcos and to the seizure of 300 tonnes of drugs worth a staggering $3billion (£2.3billion).

“Chandler's web disrupted the Bogotá mafia who controlled the main airport and boasted they could put anything on a plane, from drugs to bombs.”

The team also penetrated the drug crews who raced coke-laden speedboats to the transit station of Jamaica.

And, they dismantled teams who smuggled narcotics through coastal ports and identified the so-called motherships, the largest method of bulk transit ever discovered.

10 The body of Medellin drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar lies on the roof of a house moments after he was gunned down by Colombian police while trying to escape authorities Credit: AFP - Getty

10 Tom Chandler said that no one knew the extent of British efforts to stop the tide of narcotics Credit: AFP - Getty

10 The British government wanted Chandler and his team to do the impossible: infiltrate the most powerful crime syndicates on earth and stop their drug shipments Credit: Getty - Contributor

But, Chandler and his team “faced appalling risks”.

There were “treacherous stool pigeons” working for both sides.

Some of his Colombian law-enforcement colleagues were abducted, tortured and killed.

Chandler, too, faced a grave threat when the crime lords learned he was responsible for a string of interdictions.

He admitted to The Mirror that he felt guilty when a key informant – who was married with kids – was fatally shot by hitmen after a mate betrayed him, saying, “he didn’t deserve to die. To some extent I was to blame.”

But Chandler continued securing drug seizures, until he finally burned out and his tour of duty came to an end.

10 Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar, in the Netflix original series 'Narcos' Credit: AP:Associated Press

10 Joaquin aka 'El Chapo' Guzman escorted in Ciudad Juarez by the Mexican police as he is extradited to the United States. Credit: AFP or licensors

Narcos: Mexico - Netflix trailer depicts rise of Guadalajara Cartel and cocaine traffic under Félix Gallardo and his battle with DEA agent Kiki Camarena

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Two of his best sources were subsequently murdered, and his bosses dropped the entire overseas informant programme.

The National Crime Agency is now responsible for stemming the tide of drugs into the UK.

Chandler told The Mirror that although alleged Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is on trial in America, he believes the war on drugs has failed.

In hindsight, he said, the team’s efforts weren’t worth “a lot of friends” dying as “we are no better off”.

Narcos season four, titled Mexico, premieres on Netflix today, with all 10 episodes available immediately.