Perhaps old news to some but something to show the Border Force do more than reject immigrants etc
The sad story of how a trio on a small fishing vessel were recently caught with nearly a ton of 70% pure cocaine with a street value of £82m
I particularly liked the part where the captain of the ship claims he was forced into it...
"The seizure was one of the biggest-ever drug hauls at sea around the UK and followed a high-risk operation by authorities."
The men were on the UK fishing boat Bianca, which was boarded by National Crime Agency and Border Force officers off the Cornish coast in August 2016.
David Pleasants, 57, from Grimsby and Dutchman Gerald Van de Kooij, 27, pleaded guilty to importing class A drugs at the start of their trial.
Michael McDermott, from Ireland, attempted to bring a tonne of cocaine into the country. The haul, weighing 939kg and up to 70% pure, was the biggest single seizure of cocaine in the UK in 2016.
The 68-year-old was arrested with his shipmates, David Pleasants, 57, from Grimsby and Gerald Van de Kooij, 27 from the Netherlands, last August. Pleasants was jailed for 14 years and de Kooij will serve 12 years.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court has now also found the boat's skipper, Michael McDermott, guilty of drug smuggling.
The 68-year-old man claimed although he knew the cocaine was on board, he had been acting under duress and forced into shipping the cocaine by his two co-accused.
The drugs haul was one of the biggest ever recovered at sea around the UK. Authorities have told Sky News that attempts to smuggle bigger amounts of drugs into British waters are becoming more frequent.
Raymond, a covert officer for the National Crime Agency, was in charge of the joint Border Force-NCA operation to board the Bianca.
He said that operation, on August 18, 2016, was a high-risk manoeuvre.
He said: "We had to make sure all our operational parameters were covered in terms of safety. We had a back-up search and rescue helicopter if necessary.
"When we put in the strike on the vessel, we go from a position of stealth from far afield and get on board the vessel as quickly as possible.
"We used two boarding boats on this occasion and got as many boarding officers on board the target vessel as quickly as possible.
"At the time of boarding, we didn't know who was on board, we didn't know who they were, how many people were on the vessel.
"So the whole operational tactic is to try and overwhelm as quickly as possible in order to preserve evidence and to make sure they don't get ideas about running away or approaching us with violence."
The UK Border Force is tasked with guarding the thousands of miles of Britain's coastline, along with the Royal Navy and fisheries protection squadrons.
The sad story of how a trio on a small fishing vessel were recently caught with nearly a ton of 70% pure cocaine with a street value of £82m
I particularly liked the part where the captain of the ship claims he was forced into it...
"The seizure was one of the biggest-ever drug hauls at sea around the UK and followed a high-risk operation by authorities."
The men were on the UK fishing boat Bianca, which was boarded by National Crime Agency and Border Force officers off the Cornish coast in August 2016.
David Pleasants, 57, from Grimsby and Dutchman Gerald Van de Kooij, 27, pleaded guilty to importing class A drugs at the start of their trial.
Michael McDermott, from Ireland, attempted to bring a tonne of cocaine into the country. The haul, weighing 939kg and up to 70% pure, was the biggest single seizure of cocaine in the UK in 2016.
The 68-year-old was arrested with his shipmates, David Pleasants, 57, from Grimsby and Gerald Van de Kooij, 27 from the Netherlands, last August. Pleasants was jailed for 14 years and de Kooij will serve 12 years.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court has now also found the boat's skipper, Michael McDermott, guilty of drug smuggling.
The 68-year-old man claimed although he knew the cocaine was on board, he had been acting under duress and forced into shipping the cocaine by his two co-accused.
The drugs haul was one of the biggest ever recovered at sea around the UK. Authorities have told Sky News that attempts to smuggle bigger amounts of drugs into British waters are becoming more frequent.
Raymond, a covert officer for the National Crime Agency, was in charge of the joint Border Force-NCA operation to board the Bianca.
He said that operation, on August 18, 2016, was a high-risk manoeuvre.
He said: "We had to make sure all our operational parameters were covered in terms of safety. We had a back-up search and rescue helicopter if necessary.
"When we put in the strike on the vessel, we go from a position of stealth from far afield and get on board the vessel as quickly as possible.
"We used two boarding boats on this occasion and got as many boarding officers on board the target vessel as quickly as possible.
"At the time of boarding, we didn't know who was on board, we didn't know who they were, how many people were on the vessel.
"So the whole operational tactic is to try and overwhelm as quickly as possible in order to preserve evidence and to make sure they don't get ideas about running away or approaching us with violence."
The UK Border Force is tasked with guarding the thousands of miles of Britain's coastline, along with the Royal Navy and fisheries protection squadrons.
