A gang of international drug smugglers were foiled

A gang of international drug smugglers were foiled
by customs officers and police who caught them red handed
unloading pnds stlng 1.

6 million of Moroccan cannabis resin
in a secluded bay in Devon, the Old Bailey heard today (Monday).

After an intensive surveillance operation involving dozens
of customs and police officers ‘all over the place’ eight men
were arrested simultaneously in a co-ordinated swoop in Salcombe,
Devon – where the drug was unloaded from a luxury yacht – London
and Essex in the early hours of July 6, 1990.

Nearly half-a-tonne of cannabis resin from Morocco
was seized.

Its street value at that time was pds stlng 1,640,000.

A tenth gang member was the only smuggler to escape the
net and he is still on the run, prosecutor Mr Michael Parroy QC
told the jury.

In earlier trials at Plymouth Crown Court, six of the
defendants were either found guilty or admitted their crime.

Two defendants were acquitted.

In the dock today is John Chapman, 37, of Denehurst
Gardens, Woodford, Essex, who denies being concerned in the
importation of 494 kilos of cannabis between January and July
1990.

Mr Parroy said the customs and police surveillance moved
into high gear when the gang members bought a pds stlng 15,000
yacht, the Misty Star, in April 1990.

Investigators concentrated on a block of flats, Newbury
House, in Northampton Road, Islington, n.

London where three of
the gang members lived.

Their every move both day and night was
noted.

‘The observations were long and detailed,’ said Mr
Parroy.

‘There were lots of chaps and women in relay armed with
binoculars and so on.

‘
On May 15, 1990, the Misty Star, which could sleep a crew
of six, set sail from the south coast of England and arrived 11 days
later in the Bay of Cadiz on Sapin’s south coast.

‘For much of this period Mr Chapman was out in Spain and
crossing over to Morocco buying the cargo,’ alleged Mr Parroy.

‘The cargo was acquired from Morocco.

‘Mr Chapman was the man who did the transactions in Morocco
going back and forth from Spain.

‘
After delays in buying the drug, the final deal was
struck and the Misty Star now loaded with just under half-a-tonne
of cannabis resin sailed for England on June 22, the jury heard.

The surveillance team noted that Chapman was back in
England by June 26.

The gang planned to unload the drugs from the yacht into
a rubber dinghy in Poole, Dorset, the court heard.

To make sure all went smoothly, they practiced putting on
their wetsuits, steering the dinghy out into the bay and then back
again to shore before loading it on to its trailer, said counsel.

The Misty Star approached Poole Bay on July 4, 1990, as
the gang and a small convoy of vehicles waited patiently for the
final leg of the deal to be completed.

‘Unfortunately for them, their was a gale blowing up the
channel,’ said counsel.

‘Some of the gang were seen on the shore looking disconsolate
because it had been blowing so hard that the inflatable boat attached
to a buoy had been dragged further away from shore.

‘But at least it was still there.

‘
The Misty Star duly arrived at Poole but because the weather
was treacherous a snap decision was made to divert her to Salcombe,
the jury heard.

As the yacht sailed along the coast to her destination a
convoy of cars including a trailer with the dinghy sped to the
new rendezvous point.

Customs and police watched from secret hideouts as the yacht
finally sailed into an estuary off Salcombe about 1.

55 am on July 5.

It was not until the early hours of the next morning that
the dinghy was used to transfer the drugs to shore, the court heard.

After the cannabis resin was loaded into a four-wheel drive
customs officers and police gave the signal and swooped.

The yacht, dinghy, and four cars including the jeep with the
drugs were seized.

The defendants were arrested and their homes searched where
numerous documents and other evidence relating to the drug trafficking
operation were found, said Mr Parroy.

One of the gang members was found hiding underneath a hedge
at the back of his garden.

‘He was curled up hoping nobody would see him,’ said Mr
Parroy.

‘Unfortunately for him he was seen.

‘
The trial continues.

ends