Two men have been convicted of smuggling over three TONNES of cocaine from Guyana. The event is thought to be the biggest class A haul discovered in British history.
Mumun Sahin and Emin Ozmen were stopped by the Royal Navy on the coast of Aberdeen, and concealed the huge stash in compartments inside their boat’s ballast tanks.
Officials said that the drugs could have got the men a tasty £500 million if their plan had succeeded. They were caught after their Tanzanian-flagged ship, the MV Hamal, was stopped in April.
Investigators emptied the ballast tanks in a thorough search, discovering 128 blocks of cocaine stashed inside.
NCA senior investigating officer John McGowan said that the men had been caught out after UK teams worked all over the world, with forces in France, Turkey, Guyana and Tanzania.
He stated,
“This seizure was unprecedented in scale, the biggest ever class A haul in the UK, and we believe the biggest ever maritime seizure of cocaine in Europe.
“While we suspect that the end destination for this load would have initially been mainland Europe, there is no doubt given the size of the seizure that a good percentage would have ended up being sold in the UK and fuelling further criminality.”
The two men were found guilty after trial at Glasgow’s High Court, and will be sentenced on the 12th of August. Seven men who were also on bard the ship have escaped prosecution – three saw their charges dropped while the other four were found not guilty by a majority verdict.