A “high stakes” plot to smuggle cocaine worth more than £200 million was foiled when a boat carrying the consignment was shipwrecked off the Irish coast, a court heard today.
The gang behind the operation arranged for the 62 bales of the drug - a total of 1,554kg (3,425lb) - to be transferred from a catamaran which had crossed the Atlantic from the Caribbean to a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) in order to land it at a remote point in south west Ireland.
But the vessel ran out of fuel in force six gales and “foundered” on the rocks on July 2nd 2007 before it reached its destination, Blackfriars Crown Court was told.
Two men swam ashore while another had to be rescued by a lifeboat and helicopter when the RHIB sank, as the washed-up drugs packages were retrieved from the sea, the court heard.
Details of the alleged conspiracy emerged at the opening of the trial of a man accused of helping the botched operation by allegedly providing three 4x4 vehicles which were used by the gang.
John Edney (57), of Main Road, Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, denies conspiracy to supply a class A drug, namely cocaine.
It is alleged that on or before July 9th 2007, he conspired together with Michael Daly, Alan Wells and others to supply the drug.
Mr Daly (49), a retired Met Police detective sergeant who organised the logistics, and Mr Wells (56), have both pleaded guilty to their part in the conspiracy, prosecuting counsel Mark Gadsden told the jury.
A further three men - Perry Wharrie, Martin Wanden and Joe Daly - were convicted in Cork while a fourth - Gerard Hagan - pleaded guilty at the start of the trial, he said.
Mr Gadsden said: “The case concerns a conspiracy to supply slightly in excess of one and a half metric tonnes of high purity cocaine. In fact 1,554kg with an average purity of 75 per cent, so very good quality cocaine with a retail value in excess of £100 million and an ultimate street value approaching £235 million. So a huge amount
of cocaine in terms of value.
“As must be obvious, say the prosecution, those involved in that conspiracy were playing for very high stakes and would not have done so unless they were going to reap very significant rewards.
"So this is analogous to high stakes gamblers in the film Casino Royale.
“In a nutshell, the conspirators planned to import this extremely lucrative consignment of cocaine via the Republic of Ireland for onward distribution in the UK.
“However, their very carefully laid plans went awry when the RHIB which was being used to ferry the drugs ashore got into difficulties in heavy seas and foundered in Dunlough Bay just off Mizen Head in the south westerly tip of Ireland in County Cork on July 2nd 2007 - jettisoning its occupants and its very valuable cargo into the sea.”
Mr Gadsden told the jury of six men and six women Daly was “pivotal” to the conspiracy, organising the logistics, purchasing the RHIB and a rescue vessel and finding “safe houses” to be rented near the remote, disused pier where it was intended the drugs would be brought ashore.
“He was also one of the principals who was to have shared in the large profits which were to be made from this conspiracy,” he added.
Wells assisted Daly in the logistics, he said.
Mr Gadsden told the court that while Mr Edney may have been a “small cog” in the overall plan, his role was “vital”.
He said: “Edney’s role was to provide the vehicles used - a green, a red and a blue coloured Land Rover - and to arrange insurance for them in false names and addresses with which he was associated.”
The vehicles were used to tow the RHIBs from the UK to Ireland and one was parked onshore at the landing point which was connected to a “safe house” by narrow lanes, the court heard.
According to the prosecution, it was “unthinkable” Mr Edney would not have been aware of what the cars were needed for, with Mr Gadsden pointing out that “every aspect” of the conspiracy had been thought out.
“Given that meticulous planning, it’s unthinkable that the task of providing the vehicles and insuring them in false names that was carried out by Edney - it’s unthinkable that that task would have been entrusted to anyone other than a member of the conspiracy who knew full well not only what he was doing but why he was doing it,” Mr Gadsden said.
The prosecution alleges Mr Edney was chosen because of his knowledge and experience of Land Rovers, owning at least one himself.
Video footage and photos were shown to the jury to give them an idea of the weather conditions, as three-metre high waves crashed against the rocky cliffs.
Mr Gadsden said that Wanden was rescued from the water by a lifeboat crew at around 9.30am on July 2nd, close to the stricken RHIB and bales of cocaine.
Suffering from hypothermia, he was winched to safety by a helicopter and taken to Bantry Hospital, where he gave a false name, the court heard.
Mr Gadsden said: “The weather conditions were quite bad. It was blowing a force five or six gale and there was quite a strong swell.
“The RHIB got into difficulty, having run out of fuel, and ultimately it started to take in water and then had become submerged and dragged down by the engines so only the top part of the RHIB was jutting out of the water when it was spotted by the lifeboat men.
“At the scene was found the green coloured English registered Land Rover which had been purchased and provided by John Edney,” Mr Gadsden said.
But the car was blocked in by coastguard vehicles, which meant Joe Daly - who had managed to swim ashore - and Wharrie, who had been waiting on shore, had to escape on foot, he added.
The pair ran across fields and slept rough before being found in a “dishevelled state” as they attempted to hide among herds of livestock two days later and were arrested, Mr Gadsden told the jury.
Hagan, who had accompanied the cocaine on the Lucky Day catamaran from Barbados to a handover point off the Irish coast where he joined Wanden and Joe Daly on board the RHIB with the drugs, ready to bring them ashore, raised the alarm earlier after making it to dry land, Mr Gadsden said.
“Earlier on that morning, Hagan had already managed to swim ashore from the foundering RHIB,” he said. “He went to a nearby farmhouse at about 7am and raised the alarm to the fact a ‘boating accident’ had occurred and he told the farmer [Michael O’Donovan] a friend of his was still in the water and another had swum ashore.”
Hagan was also taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia and gave a false name, the jury was told.
The court heard the Lucky Day was bought in Florida for $110,000 in cash on March 3rd 2007 before mooring on the island of Margarita off the coast of Venezuela on March 31st.
Hagan travelled to the Caribbean to “keep an eye on the drugs” and set off with a Lithuanian crew from Barbados on May 25 for its 3,000-mile journey, Mr Gadsden said.
But the location where the drugs ended up on the morning of July 2nd was not the intended landing site, the court heard.
Mr Gadsden said: “Subsequent investigation by the Republic of Ireland police revealed a highly sophisticated and meticulously planned operation which centred on two rented properties from which many key exhibits were recovered.”
Fingerprints and other evidence were found at the “safe houses” in Farranamanagh and Letter West after the conspirators’ plan went wrong, the jury was told.
“They were strategically located, overlooking the proposed landing site of the consignment of drugs at an extremely remote, disused pier,” Mr Gadsden said.
The court heard Michael Daly had bought the main drugs RHIB in October 2006 for the equivalent of #34,000 from a South African company, using a money transfer via a foreign currency bureau in Victoria Street, London.
In 2007, the vessel, and a smaller rescue RHIB, were taken to Ireland from the UK, towed by Land Rovers allegedly supplied by Edney, on the car ferry from Pembroke to Rosslare, Mr Gadsden told the jury.
Mr Gadsden said Mr Edney paid more than £6,000 in cash for the three Land Rovers from Nene Overland in Peterborough as well as shelling out on insurance.
The prosecution alleges the defendant used false names and addresses for documents relating to them.
The cash purchases may not have raised alarm bells because he was an “established customer” of the car dealer but Mr Gadsden told the jury the use of cash indicated “illegality” of the purchases.
Michael Daly and Wells both managed to flee Ireland via the car ferry on Daly’s false passport, the court heard.
A few months later, Mr Edney was spotted with the fugitives, according to Mr Gadsden.
He said police surveillance teams saw Mr Edney with Daly at the Bridges pub in South Darenth, Kent, on September 4th and then filmed Mr Edney travelling with Wells from a marina on Hayling Island in Hampshire to his lock-up in Kent.
Mr Gadsden told the jury: “The fact that the others have been convicted is evidence against this defendant in that it establishes a conspiracy existed.
“However, it does not of itself prove he is guilty.
“The issue for you to decide, having heard all the evidence, will be ‘was Edney a member of, or party to, that conspiracy?”
The trial was adjourned to tomorrow.
PA