A Luso-British police operation resulted in the seizure of more than two tonnes of cocaine hidden in a yacht in the English Channel.
The drugs, from Latin America, were destined for the European market, the Judicial Police announced on Monday.
The PJ said that in the past few weeks, it had been working with the UK’s National Crime Agency, in a "complex operation to combat the trafficking of cocaine by sea."
According to the Portuguese police, as a result of this operation, the Dutch registered 'SY Marcia' was found to be carrying 2,100 kilos of cocaine from Latin America to the European continent. The drugs were hidden in bales underneath the yacht's decking. It was intercepted in the ocean off south-west Cornwall and escorted to Newlyn as it headed to Britain. Crew members Maarten Peter Pieterse, 59, and Emile Adriaan Jeroen Schoemaker, 44, were arrested.
This operation, like similar ones in recent months, has seen the successful seizure of large quantities of cocaine and is part of the police cooperation framework developed by the authorities in several countries whose objective is to stop the trafficking.
European law enforcement agencies, including the National Maritime Intelligence Centre (NMIC) in the UK and the joint Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) in Lisbon, Portugal, co-ordinated with partners in France and the Netherlands.
Schoemaker denied the drug importation charges, while Pieterse did not enter a plea. Both were remanded in custody and are due to appear at Bristol Crown Court on 20 August.
Searches are continuing on board the sailing yacht after it was intercepted by Border Force cutter HMC Vigilant on Wednesday, July 18th.
NCA regional head of investigations Andy Quinn said, "Intercepting this vessel took international co-operation and I’d like to pay tribute to all those involved, not least our Border Force colleagues who located and boarded the boat and then brought it back into port to be searched.
"This is a huge haul of class A drugs, one of the largest seizures of Class A ever in the UK, and with a potential street value likely to be in the hundreds of millions.
"The criminal trade in drugs is driven by financial gain, and the loss of the profit that would have been made from this seizure it will be a major hit to the international criminal networks involved."
Rod Lowson, head of Border Force’s Border Protection Squadron, said,‘ "This is a major seizure, one of the largest detections of cocaine ever made in the UK and a testament to the multi-agency approach we take to secure the UK’s border and territorial waters."
