£500m drugs bust in North Sea 'UK's biggest ever'

Nine men all all Turkish nationals have been arrested after a tug boat was intercepted by a Royal Navy frigate 100 miles east of Aberdeen last week, the National Crime Agency says that more than three tonnes of coc aine with an estimated value of £500m were discovered on board.

John McGowan, senior investigating officer for the NCA, said: "The search of this vessel has been lengthy and painstaking, undertaken by hugely skilled specialists working in difficult conditions.
"The result is this massive discovery - believed to be the biggest single class A drug seizure on record in the UK, and likely to be worth several hundred million pounds.
"Our investigation continues, but the operation was only possible thanks to the close co-operation between the NCA, Border Force, the Royal Navy, plus the French DNRED and our other international partners. The extensive operation in Aberdeen was given substantial support from Police Scotland."
www.bbc.co.uk...

Now that's a lot of snow !

a reply to: gortex

Damn, and it's my birthday in three weeks.

Pissing in the wind.

For that one bust another 20 odd ships likely got through and a CIA plane loaded with even more

Wow 3 tonnes!!!

With that sort of insane load it doesnt matter what punishment they get from the law, their days are numbered as i dont suspect they can cough up £500m to pay back the drug lord!!!


Damn.... 3 tonnes, 3000 Kgs, one kg will get you some very heavy jail time.... i suppose you go over how ever many kgs it is to hit max prison time, it doesnt matter any more 0.o

One more time, 3 tonnes, holy cow...

Did anyone else think stupid smugglers?

It is the North Sea, east of Aberdeen. Don't know about you but i would be highly suspicious of a tug boat there crewed entirely by Turks.

Surely if you have that much on a shipment, you can afford to have a Scandinavian or Baltic crew? Or British? You know, one that wouldn't automatically make any authorities go "hmmm".

Ok. Good bust. But is this not in international waters?

If so, what right does Britain have to even stop the boat let alone search it?

P

originally posted by: crazyewok
Pissing in the wind.

For that one bust another 20 odd ships likely got through and a CIA plane loaded with even more

Well the 'official' estimate is one bust and another 10 get through..

There's been a couple of busts this size off the Irish coast the past couple of years. The jagged coastlines of UK and Ireland are ideal for smuggling, lots of bays and inlets.

Sure didnt the IRA smuggle tons of weapons for years

originally posted by: pheonix358
Ok. Good bust. But is this not in international waters?

If so, what right does Britain have to even stop the boat let alone search it?

P

I think, but im not 100% sure, that its 200km exclusion off the coast of Britain and Ireland.
So 100 miles out would be in British waters

a reply to: gortex

.... NV ....

originally posted by: Biigs
Wow 3 tonnes!!!

With that sort of insane load it doesnt matter what punishment they get from the law, their days are numbered as i dont suspect they can cough up £500m to pay back the drug lord!!!


Damn.... 3 tonnes, 3000 Kgs, one kg will get you some very heavy jail time.... i suppose you go over how ever many kgs it is to hit max prison time, it doesnt matter any more 0.o

One more time, 3 tonnes, holy cow...

Not sure how it works in the UK but here in the states they'd flip those involved for intel and reward them with witness protection.

a reply to: dezertdog

Not sure how it works in the UK but here in the states they'd flip those involved for intel and reward them with witness protection.

The people arrested are Turkish nationals - if they grass then their families back home will be killed.
If they say nothing then its more than likely that their families will be looked after.

They'll get 16 years, probably do 8 - 10.