Finding Mr Fox: 5. An unexpected meeting

Summary

World of Secrets: Season 5, Episode 5 – "Finding Mr Fox: An Unexpected Meeting"

Hosted by BBC's World of Secrets, this episode dives deep into the murky waters of international drug smuggling, focusing on the enigmatic figure known as Mr. Fox and the intricate web surrounding the yacht Rich Harvest. Through compelling storytelling, investigative journalism, and firsthand accounts, listeners are taken on a journey to uncover the truth behind the allegations and the elusive mastermind.

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1. Introduction to the Case

The episode begins with a gripping recount of Robert Delbos' past involvement in drug smuggling. Colin Freeman sets the scene by recounting a major drug bust in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1986, where Delbos was apprehended for his role in a significant cannabis trafficking operation.

Colin Freeman [02:47]: "Police and customs swoop. Three more men are arrested on the beach, and in coordinated raids across the country, they pick up the rest of the gang, five men and a woman in total."

2. Robert Delbos' Background

Delbos emerges as a pivotal character with a history of maritime expertise and questionable associations. Initially charged with trafficking cannabis, his past is marked by imprisonment and a contentious relationship with the authorities.

Robert Delbos [04:25]: "The same Robert Delbos who 30 years later would work on the Rich Harvest. The same Robert Delbos who was extradited to Brazil. The same Robert Delbos who was accused of being part of a plot to traffic more than a ton of cocaine."

3. The Rich Harvest Operation

The centerpiece of the investigation revolves around the yacht Rich Harvest, which Delbos claims was used to smuggle cocaine across the Atlantic. Through his narrative, listeners learn about his collaboration with George Saul, alias Mr. Fox, and the dubious practices employed in the smuggling operation.

Robert Delbos [07:18]: "I left Gloucestershire and I went to the Costa del Sol, and while I was down there, I was informed that there was a boat down there, the Rich Harvest, that was looking for somebody to carry out a refit on her."

4. Robert's Arrest and Conviction

Delbos details his arrest in Spain under an Interpol Red Notice and his subsequent interrogation in Brazil. Despite his claims of innocence regarding cocaine trafficking, he faced significant legal challenges and spent years in incarceration.

Robert Delbos [06:32]: "I mean, I, I, yeah, I do not drive cocaine boats. I never have and I never will. I don't like the drug. I don't like the people."

5. Investigation and Searching for Fox

As Delbos recounts his experiences, journalist Colin Freeman endeavors to trace Mr. Fox, the enigmatic figure behind the Rich Harvest operation. Utilizing traditional investigative methods and digital sleuthing, Freeman and his team attempt to piece together Fox's whereabouts.

Colin Freeman [22:00]: "We've just got to find him."

6. Tracking Signals and Breakthrough

The episode highlights the use of open-source intelligence (OSINT) by the investigative team. With the assistance of IAM Leroy, the team uncovers potential leads through Fox's social media footprints. A significant breakthrough occurs when they identify a unique tiled path in Fox's garden, leading them to Norwich, UK.

IAM Leroy [31:34]: "That's one of the images where you've got his motorbike and he's filming his motorbike... We've got him."

7. The Confrontation with Robert Delbos

In a pivotal moment, Colin Freeman manages to arrange a meeting with Delbos in Norwich. The face-to-face encounter reveals a more vulnerable side of Delbos, who shares his struggles with health issues and his lingering frustrations over the smuggling allegations.

Robert Delbos [27:12]: "I've been treated for cancer, had Covid and now has long Covid. I still sell yachts, but no longer have the strength to pull the sails up and down by myself."

Despite hopes for new information, Delbos remains reticent about Fox's current activities, leaving many questions unanswered.

Robert Delbos [28:30]: "I don't think so. I mean, I gave up. Filled you in. Pretty much everything I told you last time in life."

8. Current Status and Next Steps

As the episode nears its conclusion, the investigative team faces a mix of resolution and uncertainty. While some leads have been uncovered, the true intentions behind Fox's actions and his current status remain elusive. The team hints at future developments, setting the stage for the next episode.

IAM Leroy [33:01]: "That's it. We have an address. So we're off to Norwich to see if we can find Mr. Fox to hear what he has to say about the allegations against him. That's next time on World of Secrets."

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Notable Quotes and Insights

• Penny on Cult Recruitment:

  Penny [Timestamp not available]: "Nobody joins a cult. You just get sucked in."

• Robert Delbos on the 1980s Smuggling Incident:

  Robert Delbos [11:13]: "Eight years of my life for nothing."

• Michael O'Sullivan on Cocaine's Impact:

  Michael O'Sullivan [19:42]: "Cocaine, unlike heroin, is the lifeblood of organized crime. Almost all criminal gangs are involved in the use and distribution of cocaine."

• IAM Leroy on OSINT Techniques:

  IAM Leroy [22:26]: "He uses information that's available online to find hidden clues. For example, he's revealed people's identities by tracing their online personas and geolocated when and where videos were filmed."

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Conclusion

"Finding Mr Fox: An Unexpected Meeting" masterfully weaves together personal testimonies, investigative journalism, and digital forensics to shed light on a complex drug trafficking case. Through Robert Delbos' accounts and the relentless pursuit by the BBC team, the episode paints a vivid picture of the challenges in unraveling international smuggling networks. While some threads remain unresolved, the narrative promises further exploration in subsequent episodes.

For those intrigued by tales of secrecy, deception, and the quest for truth, this episode offers a compelling listen that underscores the intricate dance between law enforcement and elusive criminals on the global stage.

Transcript

[Colin Freeman]

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[IAM Leroy]

Before we begin, just to remind you, many of the people we've interviewed for this season of World of Secrets speak Portuguese, so their words are spoken by actors and members of our BBC team. Tucked away on a remote stretch of coastline is an old slate roof cottage peering out over the sea, half a mile from the nearest road, Hidden from view by hills and overlooking a secluded bay, It's a hard place to find. That's why it's been chosen to give shelter from the bitterly cold November night to a gang of smugglers. But they're being watched.

[Colin Freeman]

It's 1986. We're in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on one of the most westerly points of the uk. Around the cottage, hidden in the undergrowth, are surveillance officers from police and customs. Using binoculars and night vision equipment, they're keeping an eye on both the gang and the coastline. It's a major undertaking involving some hundred officers.

[IAM Leroy]

They've been tracking the smugglers for a following leads from London to the us, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Morocco. They've tailed the gang as they scouted possible landing sites for their shipment of drugs. Now they have to catch them in the act.

[Colin Freeman]

One stormy Monday night, they spot an old fishing trawler. The menu moored close to the beach, the smugglers haven't picked a good time to land their cargo. Fierce winds toss the MINU on the waves. Officers watch as more than 80 suitcase sized packages are lowered into two rubber dinghies attached to the trawler. They're nearly done when the dinghies break free and capsize, spilling the packages into the sea. Along with two of the smugglers.

[IAM Leroy]

Police and customs swoop Three more men are arrested on the beach, and in coordinated raids across the country, they pick up the rest of the gang, five men and a woman in total. The operation seizes a ton and a half of Moroccan cannabis. It's one of the biggest drug busts ever made on British shores.

[Colin Freeman]

But the captain of the trawler somehow slips the net. He spots the police before they can reach him and sails off into the stormy night. Three boats patrol the shore. The helicopter hovers in the sky, but the trawler and its captain are gone. By the time the Royal Navy catch up with the trawler, it's hundreds of miles away. For his role in the smuggling operation, the captain is sentenced to 12 years in prison.

[IAM Leroy]

The name of this slippery customer, Robert Delbos.

[Colin Freeman]

The same Robert Delbos who 30 years later would work on the Rich Harvest. The same Robert Delbos who was extradited to Brazil. The same Robert Delbos who was accused of being part of a plot to traffic more than a ton of cocaine.

[IAM Leroy]

To Europe, a plot Brazilian police say was masterminded by Fox.

[Colin Freeman]

And the same Robert Delbos who we managed to get on a line from Brazil.

[Robert Delbos]

I spent hours with him. Why? He told me all this. He told me his whole history sort of thing, about his life and about his exploiting. I mean, what do you want to know? I mean, just ask me a question. I'm going to see if I can remember what he told me. Yeah.

[IAM Leroy]

This is World of Secrets.

[Colin Freeman]

Season 5. Finding Mr. Fox.

[IAM Leroy]

A BBC World Service investigation with me and y.

[Colin Freeman]

Okay, and me. Colin Freeman.

[IAM Leroy]

Episode five an unexpected meeting.

[Robert Delbos]

So was 2018, spring of 2018, I think I got, I got offered two jobs. One job was from. Where was that? It was from Central America to Europe. Five tons of gear. They wanted to pay me three million.

[Colin Freeman]

Robert Delbos says he regularly gets offered jobs to sail boats full of drugs, not because of his criminal past, but because he's a good sailor.

[Robert Delbos]

The guy said, I can make you a millionaire. I said, no, I'm not bothered.

[Colin Freeman]

To be clear, was that cocaine?

[Robert Delbos]

Yeah, cocaine.

[Colin Freeman]

It's 2019. I'm in a BBC studio in London. Robert is in Brazil. He tells me he's sitting out in front of his apartment, which looks out over the sea. He says he's still fighting the drug smuggling charges, but that most of them have been dropped. He's no longer held on remand in jail. He says just some legal formalities to sort out before he can return to Britain.

[Robert Delbos]

I mean, I, I, yeah, I do not drive cocaine boats. I Never have and I never will. I don't like the drug. I don't like the people. And the people are stupid who are in the trade and they're not nice people. I mean, this is why I never went to the authorities.

[IAM Leroy]

Instead, the police came for him. He was picked up in Spain on an Interpol Red notice, flown to Brazil and questioned by authorities there.

[Colin Freeman]

Fox managed to avoid extradition on a technicality. And Andre, the Brazilian police chief who investigated him, told us he has no idea where Fox is now. We think Robert might be our best route to finding him. We start at the beginning.

[Robert Delbos]

I left Gloucestershire and I went to the Costa del Sol, and while I was down there, I was informed that there was a boat down there, the Rich Harvest, that was looking for somebody to carry out a refit on her.

[Colin Freeman]

It's 2015, and Robert tells me he's working in Spain fixing up a yacht. It's what he's done his whole life, find and refit boats for wealthy clients. This particular boat is called the Rich Harvest.

[IAM Leroy]

While he's working on it, the boat changes hands. Nothing unusual there. It happens all the time. But the new owner, a man called George Saul, who goes by the name of Fox, says he can get the renovation finished more cheaply in Brazil. Robert says he'd never met Fox before, but he agrees to sell the yacht across the Atlantic with him.

[Colin Freeman]

Once in Brazil, Robert says Fox asked if he would stay on to oversee the work there. It's a good offer. Fox would pay him well and he could live cheaply.

[Robert Delbos]

Well, I thought, you know, fine. I've got an apartment in the boatyard. I've got Internet. I've got 500 a week coming in. I've got my pension, you know, it's quite, quite a nice little living. So I carried on.

[IAM Leroy]

The work to the boat is extensive. They fix leaks, repair the deck, fix up the old fuel tanks and build new water tanks under a couple of the beds. Finally, after about six months in a Brazilian marina, Robert says he tells Fox the renovations are nearly finished.

[Robert Delbos]

The boat was ready, as far as I was concerned, for sail to Europe. And Saul told me he was coming over with crew from Europe to pick her up.

[Colin Freeman]

Robert's work done, they part ways. He leaves Brazil, carries on with his life, refitting boats for other clients. And as we've heard, the Rich Harvest embarks on its journey across the Atlantic.

[IAM Leroy]

But several months later, Robert says Fox turns up at his home in Spain unannounced.

[Robert Delbos]

I came back from lunch one day and he was standing on my doorstep so he was a bit agitated and he wanted to talk to me. And he then proceeded to tell me the tale that he'd opened up the tanks that I'd built and he'd constructed in there. He'd constructed hidey holes. He then loaded a ton of cocaine in it. He then hired a crew, an unwitting, unknown, innocent, bloody crew, and pushed them off to Europe. The boat had got busted in Cavaverde and he was going to shoot himself.

[IAM Leroy]

Robert also told Brazilian police that Fox said he wanted to kill himself for having put innocent people on a boat full of drugs.

[Colin Freeman]

What account did he give of why he had used these guys? And what did you say to him about that?

[Robert Delbos]

I think this is completely beyond the pale. I mean, you don't do this. I mean, he was a stupid man who was greedy. Instead of paying the crew properly and getting himself a professional bloody smuggling crew, he hired four innocent guys and thought he could put like two, two and a half mil in his pocket. He got. He got offered three million euros to do the job. He would have spent maybe half a million, all told, on the boat.

[Colin Freeman]

How do you know these. How do you know these prices, by the way? Are these prices that he told you, or were you just familiar with this stuff? Anyway, he told me that.

[Robert Delbos]

But it's common, you know, it's common knowledge. The price is what you pay. I mean, I've been offered work before.

[IAM Leroy]

According to Robert, he only got involved in smuggling that one time off the coast of Wales. He's keen to point out it was back in the 1980s. It was cannabis, not cocaine. And he got caught and convicted.

[Robert Delbos]

I spent 18 months in solitary waiting for trial and then I spent four and a half years in the special security units and, yeah, a lot of fun.

[Colin Freeman]

Why did they put you in a special security unit? What was the.

[Robert Delbos]

They thought. They thought I was going to escape.

[Colin Freeman]

Oh, I see. All right, yeah. Why did they think that? Were you gonna try or.

[Robert Delbos]

Of course I was. I. I was young and stupid.

[IAM Leroy]

Robert claims he learned his lesson after that time in prison.

[Robert Delbos]

No, it's just not worth it. Eight years of my life for nothing.

[Colin Freeman]

But Fast forward to 2019 and here he is again, battling drug charges over the rich harvest. He says Brazilian authorities spent months trying to figure out his role, all while.

[IAM Leroy]

He languished on remand in a Brazilian jail.

[Robert Delbos]

Not a fun place. Not a fun place.

[Colin Freeman]

At one point, he says he was put into isolation.

[Robert Delbos]

There's no books. You're not allowed to write letters. The only book allowed in There is the Bible. There's no, there's no phone calls. There's absolutely nothing. And the only thing to do is to. Is to kill mosquitoes and, and watch the ants carry the bits off down the wall.

[Colin Freeman]

After a time, he says, they moved him to another wing.

[Robert Delbos]

They put me onto a gang wing expecting, I think, that I'd have trouble with the gang, but the gang were. The gang boss, sort of like figuratively speaking, put his arm around me and welcomed me. They looked after me. I had absolutely no problem with the gang members at all. And I was in a cell with seven, seven other guys, no problem. Just only had one problem there. One guy tried to be stupid and that was it.

[Colin Freeman]

What happened when he tried to be.

[Robert Delbos]

Stupid, he wouldn't leave me alone. He just put his hands on me and he was sort of prodding me, so I just took him out. I just took him down on the floor and. And yeah.

[Colin Freeman]

Were you scared being in this gang wing with all these gang members? Why did this particular gang leader sort of protect you, do you think?

[Robert Delbos]

It was a nice guy, but he was. He'd shot a few people, but he was. I mean, they're a funny breed.

[Colin Freeman]

There will be some people who will lect to the fact that you have this conviction for smuggling cannabis and they will say there can be no smoke without fire.

[Robert Delbos]

Oh, yeah, fine. But the thing is, let's put it this way. I'm sitting in an apartment on the waterfront in Brazil. The judge has ordered me to be released. Now, I'd hardly be sitting on the waterfront with no bail if they thought they were going to cut a case against me. There is no case against me.

[Colin Freeman]

So are you the criminal mastermind of this international cartel then?

[Robert Delbos]

No, I'm an old age pensioner who's just trying to get by in life.

[IAM Leroy]

Just an old age pensioner. Robert says he's hired a private detective to help him get justice.

[Robert Delbos]

I'm going to do. I'm going to be doing some digging around when I get over to Europe. So, you know, and any information you're quite welcome to, because as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to burn him at the stake. You know, you don't hire innocent people. You don't need people to rot in jail.

[IAM Leroy]

So where is Fox?

[Robert Delbos]

Yeah, he's on the run. He's in hiding, but no, he's got his head down in England. I heard he was trying to get hold of a Romanian passport, but I don't know if he did manage to get that one.

[Colin Freeman]

Are you going to try and track Saul down?

[Robert Delbos]

I'm not going to try. I am going to track Saul down.

[Colin Freeman]

And what are you going to say to him when you find him or if you find him?

[Robert Delbos]

That he owes me a bit of money.

[Colin Freeman]

How much does he owe you?

[Robert Delbos]

18 months of misery.

[Colin Freeman]

A few months after we speak, Robert messages me to say the charges against him have been dropped. He tells me that he's left Brazil and is now back in England. We make vague arrangements to meet. But then COVID 19, sees the world grind to a halt. Eventually, he stops replying to my messages. My emails go unanswered. Just like Fox, Robert has disappeared.

[Yemisi Adegoke]

An airliner heads for Alaska with 101 passengers. Then, somewhere over the Gulf of Alaska, Flight 293 slams into the icy waters below.

[Colin Freeman]

Even if all four engines quit, it just doesn't fall out of the sky.

[Yemisi Adegoke]

No bodies were recovered. Loved ones had no closure and were left to wonder, what happened to Flight 293? Unsolved Histories what Happened to Flight 293 is available now wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Michael O'Sullivan]

In the early 80s, when heroin sort of kicked off in Dublin, I went to a. To a flat where I knew somebody was selling heroin.

[IAM Leroy]

This is Michael O'Sullivan.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

And I went up and knocked on the door and this big guy opened the door and I asked him for heroin and he produced some.

[IAM Leroy]

At this point, Michael identifies himself as a police officer.

[Colin Freeman]

The guy with the heroin quickly turns and runs into the apartment.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

It was a warm day in May and he had a fire blazing. And I quickly realized why, because he threw the drugs into the Fire and ran towards the window.

[IAM Leroy]

Michael has a decision to make. Does he run after the dealer or does he try to save the evidence which is currently burning in a fire?

[Michael O'Sullivan]

I put my hand in and grabbed the drugs which were in a plastic bag and were melting. So the hot plastic stuck to my hand and badly burnt it. But I had the drugs and as he went to go out the window, I hung onto him basically and screamed for assistance. And eventually the reinforcements came and he was arrested.

[IAM Leroy]

We've heard Robert Delbos explanation of how he says cocaine ended up on the rich harvest. But how does the trade look from the other side, from the authorities trying to stop it?

[Colin Freeman]

Michael joined the Irish police back in the 1980s. He spent years with the drug squad, tackling local gangs in Dublin before a change in job saw him shift focus.

[IAM Leroy]

Until 2021, Michael was head of the Maritime Analysis and Operations center based in Lisbon. In Portugal here, his focus was criminal networks involved in the international drug trade.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

In the just the year I left, we had seized just over 4 billion euros worth of cocaine and intercepted some 26 vessels.

[Colin Freeman]

The aim of the EU funded agency is to use intelligence to target boats still at sea before they've unloaded their cargo.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

Once it hits the streets of any European city, you know, it's dispersed within hours.

[Colin Freeman]

Can you tell us about the impact that the cocaine trade has on the streets of Europe?

[Michael O'Sullivan]

Yeah, Cocaine, unlike heroin, is the lifeblood of organized crime. And I'd say almost all criminal gangs are involved in the use and distribution of cocaine. Why? Because it's very lucrative and it's based on the principle that there is more disposable income now in Europe. People are buying it. They think they're not going to get addicted. They think it's a good social drug that's very fashionable, very sexy. They don't think that they're fueling organized crime.

[Colin Freeman]

In the case of the rich Harvest, a number of innocent sailors from Brazil and one from France were hired to sail the yacht across the Atlantic, unaware that there was a ton of cocaine on board. Is that a common tactic?

[Michael O'Sullivan]

It's not that common. It is not the most ideal way of doing business because you want your investment in safe hands. Coming across the Atlantic, you don't want to leave anything to chance. People who will know that this stuff has got to get through, not to give up lightly and not to give up after some storm or some engine problems and, you know, people who are, who will avoid law enforcement.

[IAM Leroy]

What Michael says seems to tally with Robert Delbos account that using an Unwitting crew is not the way things are usually done.

[Colin Freeman]

All these golden rules for success. And it seems the rich harvest did.

[IAM Leroy]

The complete opposite, stopping in Cape Verde after its engine broke and the crew fell out with each other.

[Colin Freeman]

The way it raised its flag to announce its presence to local authorities.

[IAM Leroy]

How it arrived late at night, but waited until daylight to approach land and called on a tugboat to help drag them to shore.

[Colin Freeman]

None of this is exactly subtle. It's possible that some unknown third party planted the drugs on the boat in secret. Perhaps they were going to intercept the rich harvest at sea.

[IAM Leroy]

But that's not what the Brazilian authorities think.

[Colin Freeman]

They believe Fox Fox masterminded the whole operation.

[IAM Leroy]

We want to know what Fox has to say.

[Colin Freeman]

We've just got to find him.

[Unknown]

You know, in the old days, you would go about asking, you know, pick up the phone, make some call to some sources, get some testimonies, and try to narrow down the location of a person based on what people tell you, what your sources tell you. But now, of course, you can just do it from your gapto.

[IAM Leroy]

We've enlisted some help in our hunt for Fox. This is Iam, another journalist on our team. He specializes in open source investigations, osint. He uses information that's available online to find hidden clues. For example, he's revealed people's identities by tracing their online Personas and geolocated when and where videos were filmed by examining the outline of hills and shadows cast by trees.

[Unknown]

We often use social media and they've got videos, photos, and from those videos and photos you can maybe find crews where they're working, where they actually go to the gym, where they actually drink their coffee, things like that.

[IAM Leroy]

Iam thinks he's got something on Fox. He wants to talk me through it.

[Unknown]

First thing I did is a sort of mapping of his digital presence. And he definitely had an Instagram account and a Facebook account. But unfortunately, people are being careful. They don't publish much on their social media platform or they have their accounts private. And that was the case for Foxes.

[IAM Leroy]

So given that the social media posts weren't that helpful, how else did you sort of go about trying to track him down?

[Unknown]

The next step often is you try, you know, to look at people who have jobs, activities, hobbies, and so, you know, you can get results maybe with blogs or registries and bingo. There were definitely some results. Actually, there were a couple of results with, in total, seven different addresses. And all of those addresses pointed to Norwich, a town in the east part of the uk. So that gave a big coup and.

[IAM Leroy]

They were all in Norwich. So I guess that narrows down the place quite a bit.

[Unknown]

Absolutely. Big time. That's kind of, you know, we started from. We don't know where this guy is. He could be anywhere in the world to now. Okay. Like all his business activities put him in Norwich. The only issue is, you know, he's got a business renting out properties, so you never know if those addresses actually the one he lives in, one of those he's renting out.

[IAM Leroy]

This feels like a huge moment. We have all these breadcrumbs leading towards the city of Norwich in the uk. As we learnt from the Brazilian police, it's where he was born and it's where he was sending money to pay for the renovation work when the rich harvest was in Brazil. Maybe finally the net is closing, but it's still not clear how recent the clues are. It's going to take I some time to sift through all these leads.

[Colin Freeman]

Have you got them up? Yep. Okay. Right. I think, yeah, this is. I keep thinking about another hunt for Fox, the one that Robert Delvos told us about. The last we heard he was on Fox's trail too, but that was five years ago. I've tried several times to restart the conversation with Robert but I've heard nothing back. So in a last ditch effort, I managed to get hold of what might be a home address for him in the uk. It's worth a shot. I think this might be it. Oh, looks like he might actually be in because there is a car parked outside. It's not every day that I show up unannounced on the doorstep of a convicted drug smuggler. I've no idea how he'll react, but last time we spoke he alluded to having more useful information on Fox. Let's go knock. Okay, we're going to put the microphones away because I spoken to him for several years and if he does answer the door, I don't want to be shoving a microphone in his face straight away. That might just make him shut the door again. So, nervously I knock on his door. It turns out I needn't have worried. I get a warm welcome. Robert leads me along a path down the side of his house and into a modest back garden. Are you brought up? You weren't born here. We sit on patio furniture on the edge of a small lawn surrounded by flowers.

[Robert Delbos]

They're all wildflowers.

[Colin Freeman]

They're wild wildflowers and porcelain painted butterflies which hang on the fence.

[Robert Delbos]

I don't know where that came from. I think I came from A charity shop somewhere. My wife likes collecting things like that.

[Colin Freeman]

What's happened with your court case?

[Robert Delbos]

Oh, gone. They've completely exonerated and yeah, walk free. Yes.

[Colin Freeman]

We checked. And in his summing up, the judge overseeing the case noted evidence of a friendly relationship between Robert and Fox. The judge says it's unequivocal that Robert worked on the renovation of the Rich Harvest. But it's unproven that Robert knew about a plan to smuggle the drugs. And so the judge concludes the charges are unfounded and Robert is acquitted. What was it we lost? Touched him?

[Robert Delbos]

I don't know. I've been ill, I've been traveling. I don't know.

[Colin Freeman]

Robert tells me that a lot has happened since our last interview. He's been treated for cancer, had Covid and now has long. Covid. He says he still sells yachts, but no longer has the strength to pull the sails up and down by himself. If you remember previous conversation, you seem to know a bit about the rates that people charged for traffic, for trafficking and so on. And did you still get people doing?

[Robert Delbos]

No, no, I'm so old.

[Colin Freeman]

I ask about Fox or George. Saw whether he has any new information.

[Robert Delbos]

I don't think so. I mean, I gave up. Filled you in. Pretty much everything I told you last time in life. Yeah, well, I mean, he was just the bloody owner of the boat as far as I was concerned. I mean, I don't know what he got up to in his spare time.

[Colin Freeman]

I mean, not sure I'm making much progress here. There's something I have to ask. Something that's been niggling away at me. Why would Fox choose to seek out Robert and then confess to duping the sailors? Seems like a convenient story. Which could have helped. Helped bolster Robert's own claims that he too was duped. So why would Fox admit to having used the sailors on the Rich Harvest? Did you go to see him or.

[Robert Delbos]

Did he came to see me?

[Colin Freeman]

Why do you think?

[Robert Delbos]

No, Fox came. No idea what's at all.

[Colin Freeman]

Right, yeah.

[Robert Delbos]

No idea. I never have understood that one.

[Colin Freeman]

We talk for ages, but it's a strange conversation. If anything, he seems to know less than he did last time we spoke. He says it was all a long time ago now. Maybe that private eye he hired wasn't much use after all. Or perhaps he's just been more careful about what he says. And I think you also said you had a private detective on it and all that, so.

[Robert Delbos]

Yeah, I'm pretty close to him, yes. I should get him. And I should get him this year.

[Colin Freeman]

Do you know where he is or can you tell us where he is?

[Robert Delbos]

He's in England, let's put it that way.

[Colin Freeman]

Yeah, yeah. What. What are you gonna do?

[Robert Delbos]

I have a chat with him.

[Colin Freeman]

Yeah.

[Robert Delbos]

That's all. I mean, just have a chat. I mean, like, you know, I feel he has me, my legal fees and nothing else.

[Colin Freeman]

Yeah, yeah, it's clear we're not going to get anywhere. It's time to leave.

[IAM Leroy]

Elsewhere. Our colleague I am has had a breakthrough.

[Unknown]

One day I opened his Instagram and suddenly it's public.

[IAM Leroy]

Oh, wow.

[Unknown]

I can see all his images.

[IAM Leroy]

Interesting.

[Unknown]

I don't know why he did that. Maybe he felt there wasn't any more risk to him.

[IAM Leroy]

His account is a goldmine of information. Over the years, he's tagged posts in Gibraltar, Botswana, the Virgin Islands, Spain, Berlin and the Netherlands. But most of his posts are in the UK and many of them are recent. So what type of stuff do you see?

[Unknown]

You know, he likes to go to the gym and give some weights and, you know, kind of lots of muscles. Big guy, really into motorbikes as well. Also, he's got distinctive and big white Land Rover.

[IAM Leroy]

They're not discreet at all, then?

[Unknown]

No, and I bet not many people have that, so it's pretty unique. He's also got his dog that follows him everywhere he goes.

[IAM Leroy]

Iams also found a series of photos and videos posted by Fox that look like they were all taken in the same house.

[Unknown]

Let me just share my screen. That's one of one of the image where you've got his motorbike and he's filming his motorbike.

[IAM Leroy]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

As you can see, he's got that pavement path leading to his front door. It's very distinctive.

[IAM Leroy]

The video reveals a very distinctive tiled path in Fox's garden. Ian wants to see if he can spot that same path in images of the addresses he's already linked to Fox in Norwich.

[Unknown]

So what I did is, one by one I went to different addresses on Google Street View and in one of them, you know, Bing pointing that this was likely the address where the video was taken.

[IAM Leroy]

He looks for other clues to confirm he's got the right place.

[Unknown]

And so I looked at another image. You see the window, you see the motorbike, the same one that we saw before. And in the background you see a house with exactly the roof and satellite dish. For me, the detail that was it is really that pavement path leading to his front door. Just because it's so unique. That's it. We've got him.

[IAM Leroy]

That's it. We have an address. So we're off to Norwich to see if we can find Mr. Fox to hear what he has to say about the allegations against him. That's next time on World of Secrets.

[Colin Freeman]

This has been episode five of six of season five of World of Secrets, Finding Mr. Fox from the BBC World Service.

[IAM Leroy]

If you like the story so far, then please leave us a review so others can find out more.

[Colin Freeman]

I'm Colin Freeman.

[IAM Leroy]

And I'm Yemisi Adegoke. The producer is Charlotte McDonald. The executive producer is Joe Kent.

[Colin Freeman]

The series editor is Matt Willis. The production coordinator, Gemma Ashman. And the sound design and mix are by Nigel Appleton.

[IAM Leroy]

Additional production is by IAM Leroy, Christine Kiss, Nick, Norman Butler and Chiara Francavilla.

[Colin Freeman]

At the World Service, Cat Collins is a senior producer and John Manell the commissioning editor.

[Yemisi Adegoke]

An airliner heads for Alaska with 101 passengers and crew. Then somewhere over the Gulf of Alaska, Flight 293 slams into the icy waters below.

[Colin Freeman]

Even if all four engines quit, it just doesn't fall out of the sky.

[Yemisi Adegoke]

No bodies were recovered. Loved ones had no closure and were left to wonder, what happened to Flight 293? Unsolved Histories what Happened to Flight 293 is available now wherever you get your podcasts.