Cruise Ship Cocaine Smugglers Jailed

A gang of drug smugglers who tried to bring cocaine worth £4m into the country aboard a cruise ship at Dover have been sentenced to a total of 84 years today.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that UK Border Agency officers searched the cruise liner MSC Opera when it arrived in Dover on 21 May 2010 en route to Amsterdam from Brazil.

During a search of the ship they found baggage containing white powder in three cabins which reacted positively to a test for cocaine. The total weight of the drugs was approximately 35 kilos which once cut down for sale would have a potential street value of over £4 million.

In each of the three cabins, and also in a fourth, officers found "bodysuits" designed to be worn under clothing to conceal drugs, and tape or bandages for strapping drug concealments to bodies.

Seven people, two Lithuanian men, a Lithuanian woman, two Latvian men and two Latvian women were arrested and later charged with being knowingly concerned in the evasion of the prohibition on importation of cocaine under Sec. 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

Six had pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle the cocaine and the remaining one - Ziedonis Auzins was found guilty after trial at Canterbury Crown Court on 18 February 2011. All seven received prison terms when they appeared for sentencing at the same court today.

Malcolm Bragg, Criminal and Financial Assistant Director for the UK Border Agency, said: "This group attempted to pose as genuine tourists aboard a cruise ship thinking they would go unnoticed. But like previous smuggling gangs we have caught using this method, they were wrong.

"We know the lengths that organised criminals will go to and will stop at nothing to bring them to justice.

"The sentences handed down in this case send a clear message to people considering smuggling drugs that you will have your freedom taken away for a long time.

"Drugs like cocaine devastate lives and communities. Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drug smuggling should call our hotline on 0800 59 5000."

A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: "MSC Cruises has a strict zero tolerance policy for illegal drugs on all its ships. We have cooperated fully with authorities from the very beginning and have provided all assistance necessary in this domain."

The UK Border Agency will take action to deport the smugglers at the end of their jail terms.

The case follows the sentencing of eight Bulgarian and Lithuanian nationals earlier this year for attempting to smuggle 35 kilos of cocaine into the UK aboard a different cruise ship at Dover.

The smugglers were jailed for a total of 108 years at Canterbury Crown Court on 7 January 2011.