Men deny cocaine boat smuggling attempt

Two men who deny smuggling more than 200kg of cocaine into the UK have gone on trial.

Five other men previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle the drugs, worth more than £6m, into Cornwall, Truro Crown Court was told.

The jury heard the drugs were secreted aboard a cargo ship sailing from South America and then offloaded into the English Channel.

Scott Johnston, 37, of Havant, Hampshire and Michael May, 47, of Kelveden Hatch, Essex, deny a charge of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the UK.

Prosecutor Frederick Hookway told the jury a Border Force boat spotted a fast moving rigid inflatable boat (RIB) in the sea off Cornwall one morning in September last year.

The court heard the RIB sped off towards land and dumped drug bales into the sea after Border Force gave chase.

Mr Hookway said the black watertight bales of drugs were fitted with a GPS tracking device attached to Apple air tags so they could be located by a second smaller boat to be taken to the Cornish coast.

The court heard how Mr Johnston was one of three men on board the RIB and was found to have £2,615 in cash on him.

The other two other men on the vessel, Peter Williams, 43, of Havant, and Edwin Tabora Baca, 32, of Barcelona, Spain, have itted a charge of drug smuggling.

They landed the RIB at Gwynver beach near Sennen, where they attempted to run off in different directions before being arrested, the jury heard.

Mr Hookway told the court the second defendant, Mr May, was arrested in a van on the Cornish coast, and alleged he was going to transport the unloaded drugs.

The court heard how a satellite phone was found in the target RIB showing where it had sailed, revealing it had left Mountbatten in Plymouth, Devon, the night before it was intercepted.

Cell site analysis and number plate recognition inquiries showed the interaction between some of the men involved in the drug smuggling plot, the court heard.

Mr Hookway said six bundles thrown into the sea were recovered and contained 230 blocks of high purity cocaine, weighing 1kg each, and with a wholesale value of £6.2m.

"It is suspected not all the discarded drugs were recovered," Mr Hookway added.

The two defendants deny the charge that they conspired with Peter Williams, Edwin Tabora Baca, Billy Pearce, Terry Willis, Alexander Fowley and others unknown to smuggle cocaine into the UK.

The trial continues.

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