Four men were arrested for conspiring to smuggle £35M of cocaine on a fishing boat off the Cornwall coast.
Four men were arrested at sea for trying to smuggle cocaine worth £35 million on a fishing boat called the Lily Lola. Border Force intercepted the vessel near Newquay, Cornwall, last September.
Michael Kelly, 45, and Jake Marchant, 26, admitted guilt to conspiring to smuggle a tonne of cocaine. Jon Williams, 45, and Patrick Godfrey, 31, deny this charge, with their trial underway at Truro Crown Court.
The prosecutor, Frederick Hookway, informed the jury that officers stopped the Lily Lola, finding Williams at the helm with Marchant beside him. Kelly was inside the boat, while Godfrey was asleep on deck.
Approximately a tonne of cocaine was discovered on the boat near Newquay. The boat had a strong odor of alcohol, and drugs were hidden throughout the vessel. It was revealed that Williams had purchased the boat months prior for £116,000 from a man in Ramsgate, Kent.
The Lily Lola had sailed from Newquay, heading south of the Isles of Scilly, where the crew planned to collect drugs at night. Officers seized 1,078 blocks of cocaine, each weighing one kilo and with 80 percent purity, resulting in a wholesale value of £35 million. Police had been monitoring the boat for several months prior to the interception.
Evidence presented included Kelly asking an officer at Swansea marina, “Is it you I am here to meet?”, to which the officer replied no. In Newquay, Williams stated their intention to fish for sharks off the Scillies.
A device on the boat contained messages instructing the crew to ‘speed up’ and provided coordinates for a collection at sea. These messages also suggested the drugs originated from Ecuador, noting the crew missed 19 of 49 drug bags.
Police placed a recorder on the Lily Lola, capturing the crew’s conversations, which Hookway described as friendly and without threats. One man was recorded saying “we’re f***ed” when the Border Force stopped them.
The trial continues for Williams and Godfrey, who deny the single charge of conspiracy to smuggle.