Gang jailed in £300m drugs case

Three Dutch nationals have been jailed for a total of 20 years after cocaine with a street value of £300m was found hidden on board a luxury yacht in Southampton. We spoke to Brian Moore of the UK Border Force.

Working with SOCA and the Dutch National Crime Squad the gang members were tracked down and arrested from addresses across the Netherlands in August 2011. The three men, all Dutch nationals, were convicted and sentenced following a trial in Rotterdam.

The £1 million Dutch owned luxury yacht the Louise was targeted by Border Force as it was transported to Southampton aboard a cargo ship from the British Virgin Islands.

A gang of drug smugglers have today been jailed for a total of 20 years in the Netherlands after Border Force officers foiled their multi-million pound cocaine smuggling plot.

Border Force officers uncovered cocaine worth £300 million hidden inside a pleasure cruiser at Southampton docks last June. Weighing in at 1,000 tonnes, the haul was one of the UK’s largest cocaine seizures.