Britain’s biggest ever drugs bust: Royal Navy seize almost £500MILLION worth of cocaine on boat manned by Turkish gang off the coast of Aberdeen
- Royal Navy seize half a billion pounds worth of cocaine off Scottish coast
- Discovery of the high-purity cocaine is Britain's biggest ever drugs bust
- Nine Turkish nationals detained in connection with alleged drug trafficking
- The seizure is fives times the value of UK's previous biggest drugs bust
Britain's biggest ever drugs bust has seen two tonnes of cocaine worth almost £500million seized by the Royal Navy after a raid on a ship in the North Sea.
The Tanzanian registered tug boat MV Hamal, manned by a Turkish gang, was intercepted by the Navy and Border Force officials about 100 miles east of the Aberdeenshire coast last week.
Nine Turkish nationals have since been remanded in custody on Monday in connection with alleged drug trafficking offences.
Drugs find: The ocean-going tug MV Hamal (left), registered in Tanzania, was interception by the Royal Navy and Border Force cutter Valiant (right) about 100 miles east of the Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland
Calculations: Officials are still analysing the drugs found. It is believed that if mixed with other agents four tonnes of 50 per cent pure cocaine could be made. Sold at £120 a gram, that would be worth about £480million
It is thought that if mixed with other agents to make four tons of 50 per cent pure cocaine, sold at £120 a gram, the total value of the drugs seized could be worth about £480million.
The high-purity drugs bust is five times more valuable than Britain's previous biggest seizure, also made in Scotland.
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The cocaine is believed to have been sourced in South America and loaded onto the boat in the Canary Islands.
The operation was prompted by the National Crime Agency (NCA), acting on a tip-off from French customs.
Having been escorted back to Aberdeen harbour a full search of the vessel was carried out, leading to what the NCA described as a 'potentially significant seizure' of cocaine.
Detained: Nine Turkish nationals aboard MV Hamal (pictured being watched by a National Crime Agency official) were remanded in custody on Monday in connection with alleged drug trafficking offences
The crew were then detained for questioning by investigators from the NCA’s Border Policing Command.
Mustafa Ceviz, 54, Ibrahim Dag,47, Mumin Sahin, 45, Mahammet Seckin, 26, Umit Colakel, 38, Kayacan Dalgakiran, 63, Emin Ozmen, 50, all from Istanbul, appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Monday.
Abdulkadir Cirik, 31, from Mersin, and Mustafa Guven, 47, from Yozgat, also appeared from custody at the petition hearing.
They all faced the same charge of possession of a controlled drug under the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990.
The act allows the United Kingdom to join with other countries in implementing the Vienna Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Intercepted: The National Crime Agency operation was prompted by a tip-off from French customs
The men made no plea and no declaration and were remanded in custody.
They are expected to appear in court again next week.
French customs said in a statement it tipped off British authorities ‘to board a tug 60 miles east of Scotland carrying a very large quantity of cocaine, more than two tonnes'.
John McGowan, from the NCA’s Border Policing Command, said: 'This is a potentially significant seizure of illegal drugs, only made possible by the co-operation between ourselves, Border Force, the Royal Navy and our international partners.
'The ongoing NCA investigation is being supported by Police Scotland.'
A large amount of the UK's cocaine supply comes from Colombia or the border areas of neighbouring Venezuela and Ecuador.
Britain is one of Europe’s largest and most profitable markets for the drug, with an estimated 25 to 30 tons of cocaine smuggled into the UK each year.
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